London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) - history and scandal

On June 27, 2012, Barclays Bank, the fourth largest bank in the world, was fined a total of U.S. $470 million for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). At least a dozen more banks are being questioned by regulators worldwide to determine what role they played in manipulating this benchmark interest rate, currently used in over $350 trillion of interest rate contracts around the globe.

Join us on Wednesday, November 7 at 1pm in Mathematics 3 (M3) 2134 for a roundtable discussion reviewing the history of LIBOR, how it has been used in Canada and elsewhere, what the banks did and why, as well as an analysis of what the future might hold for arguably the world’s most important interest rate benchmark.

Copies of background material can be collected in advance from M3 2001.