The BOE oversight committee for the governing board announced that a London lawyer was appointed to head the investigation into whether BOE staff ignored or colluded with the alleged bank FX WM Reuters fix rate manipulations.
The Fed released minutes from the FX Committee in September 2012 discussing that the FED looked into the role that FX fixes played in the market, several months before others regulators began investigating the fix. It is unclear if the FED knew about potential manipulation, but took no public action.
The Bank of Canada is now investigating whether there has been any manipulation of the Canadian dollar fixings set by the BOC. Similar to the WM Reuters fix, these fixes are set based upon actual trades during a very brief period.
The Hong Kong Market Authority (Hong Kong's defacto central bank) investigated HIBOR interest rate benchmarks for one year but found no manipulation.
The FDIC filed a lawsuit against 15 banks plus the British Bankers Association over LIBOR manipulation harming 38 US banks taken over by FDIC. The FDIC is seeking damages for losses incurred, punitive damages and damages for antitrust violations.
Clearly benchmark investigations will continue to keep regulators busy around the world. Unfortunately, investors must continue to wait to find out what occurred and if there are changes that need to be made to protect them.
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