Barclays was at the center of the first major 2012 Libor-rigging settlement with U.S. and U.K. authorities. The bank agreed to pay about $450 million after regulators found that traders and submitters had manipulated benchmark interest-rate submissions.
Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate, was calculated from submissions by major banks about their borrowing costs. It influenced trillions of dollars in loans, derivatives, mortgages, and other financial contracts. Barclays employees were found to have attempted to influence submissions for trading purposes and, during the financial crisis, to present a stronger picture of the bank’s funding position.
The scandal later involved many other banks and contributed to the replacement of Libor with alternative benchmarks. Barclays is therefore the correct answer for the landmark 2012 settlement, but it was not the only institution implicated in the wider scandal.