巴克莱被罚款4.5亿美元

US and UK authorities have fined Barclays more than $450m for attempting to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, a benchmark interest rate that is used globally to set the price of everything from credit card fees to corporate loans.

美英当局已做出对巴克莱(Barclays)罚款4.5亿美元的决定，称该行企图操纵伦敦银行间同业拆借利率，这个基准利率被全球广泛采用，包括为信用卡收费和企业贷款定价。

Bob Diamond, Barclays chief executive, said that he and three of his top lieutenants would waive any bonus for this year “to reflect our collective responsibility as leaders as the UK bank admitted to “misconduct over five years and three continents in its submissions to the bank panels that set Libor and Euribor, the Brussels rate.

巴克莱首席执行官鲍勃·戴蒙德(Bob Diamond)表示，他和手下三名顶级高管将放弃今年的奖金，以“反映我们作为领导者的集体责任。这家英国银行承认，在5年期间，其在三大洲向设定伦敦银行间同业拆借利率(Libor)和欧元区银行间同业拆借利率(Euribor)的银行小组提交数据时存在“不当行为。

The Barclays settlement is the first shoe to drop in a sprawling probe that was launched by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and now spans nearly a dozen regulators and more than 20 banks. Yesterday’s settlements were with the UK Financial Services Authority, the CFTC and the US Department of Justice.

这项调查最初是由美国商品期货交易委员会(CFTC)发起的，随后调查范围不断扩大，现已涉及10来家监管机构和20余家银行。巴克莱银行昨日与英国金融服务管理局(FSA)、美国商品期货交易委员会和美国司法部(DoJ)达成的和解，是这项调查的第一个重大结果。

The probes are continuing and the record fines are expected to set a basis for settlement talks with individuals and other institutions. Libor, the reference rate for $360tn in global contracts, is set by banks submitting rates at which they believe they can borrow in a reasonable market.

相关调查仍在继续，预计创纪录的罚款将为监管机构与个人和机构的和解谈判确定主旋律。Libor是全球360万亿美元合约的参考利率，在其设定过程中，各银行提交其相信自己可向市场借款的合理利率，作为设定依据。

But the authorities’ statements included email exchanges in which Barclays’ submitters agreed to requests from traders to adjust their rates, sending responses including “always happy to help and “done?.?.?.?for you big boy.

但美英当局的处罚声明中摘录了相关电子邮件，显示负责提交利率的巴克莱人员同意交易员的请求，对利率进行调整。其答复包括“始终乐意帮忙以及“好了……为你这个大男孩等措辞。

In one case, a former Barclays employee asks a derivatives trader to submit a lower Libor rate and then writes “Dude. I owe you big time! Come over one day after work and I’m opening a bottle of Bollinger.

某一次，巴克莱一名前雇员请求一名衍生品交易员提交一个较低的Libor利率，然后写道：“老兄，这次我欠你一个大人情了！哪天下班后过来，我会开一瓶伯林格(Bollinger)香槟。

Barclays admitted to two main types of misbehaviour and has put in place new controls on its submissions. From 2005 to 2007, the bank took requests from its own derivatives traders and those at other banks into account when submitting Libor and Euribor quotes.

巴克莱承认有两类主要的不当行为，并已针对该行提交利率的流程实行新的控制措施。在2005年至2007年期间，该行在提交Libor 和Euribor报价时，曾把该行及其它银行衍生品交易员的请求纳入考虑范围。

The bank also admitted to lowballing its Libor rate submissions to paint a false picture of its financial health after the collapse of the UK’s Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers in the US.

巴克莱还承认，在英国北岩银行(Northern Rock)和美国雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)倒闭后，该行曾低报Libor利率，以粉饰自身的财务健康状况。

During that period, senior Barclays managers expressed concern about media reports noting that Barclays’ Libor submissions were higher than average – suggesting it was a riskier proposition for other banks looking to lend money, the FSA said in its notice. This concern “in turn resulted in instructions being given by less senior managers at Barclays to reduce Libor submissions in order to avoid negative media comment. The origin of these instructions is unclear, the FSA said.

英国金融服务管理局在其通报中称，在此期间，针对有关巴克莱提交的Libor高于平均（这表明其它银行向巴克莱放贷的风险较高）的媒体报道，该行一些高层管理人员表示关切。英国金融服务管理局表示，这种关切“进而导致级别较低的巴克莱管理人员发出指示，要求压低提交的Libor利率数据，以避免媒体的负面评论。此类指示的源头不明。

While the settlements focus on “attempted manipulation, the DoJ said on some occasions the fixed rates were affected, which could leave the bank open to class-action lawsuits.

尽管和解协议是针对“操纵企图，但美国司法部表示，在某些情况下，最终确定的Libor利率受到了影响，这可能使该行面对集体诉讼。