There are many egregious wrongdoings there, but I find this one particularly pernicious:
> "Last year, the bank was sued, alongside some of its competitors, for conspiring to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate."
LIBOR + the US T-Bill rate (plus the Federal Funds rate?) is generally considered the risk-free rate of return, upon which all other interest rates in the economy are indexed. I'm sure there's nothing more heady and master-of-the-universe-feeling than manipulating the entire world that way, but it's pretty fucked nonetheless.
One problem with the increasing concentration of wealth and the financialization of the global (or at least Western) economies is that banks and ibanks are becoming more and more able to play games like this with markets. Beyond a certain threshold of capital and leverage, market manipulation becomes not only possible but a viable business strategy.
I know it's happening now, especially with HFT and algo systems accounting for over half the volume on major exchanges, just not the extent of it. The incentives are getting seriously out of whack.
> "Last year, the bank was sued, alongside some of its competitors, for conspiring to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate."
LIBOR + the US T-Bill rate (plus the Federal Funds rate?) is generally considered the risk-free rate of return, upon which all other interest rates in the economy are indexed. I'm sure there's nothing more heady and master-of-the-universe-feeling than manipulating the entire world that way, but it's pretty fucked nonetheless.
One problem with the increasing concentration of wealth and the financialization of the global (or at least Western) economies is that banks and ibanks are becoming more and more able to play games like this with markets. Beyond a certain threshold of capital and leverage, market manipulation becomes not only possible but a viable business strategy.
I know it's happening now, especially with HFT and algo systems accounting for over half the volume on major exchanges, just not the extent of it. The incentives are getting seriously out of whack.