U.K.\u2019s Financial Conduct Authority is barring Paul White, an ex-Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) trader, for misconduct involving the rigging of the London interbank offered rate. The FCA said that White behaved with recknlessness and was not in integrity when he would submit information about Libor related to the Swiss frank and the Japanese yen.<\/p>\n
According to the British regulator, from 5\/07 to 11\/10, White improperly considered requests that came from derivatives traders at two banks when issuing Libor submissions. If any of the information he turned in wasn\u2019t been accurate, this could have changed the rate for Libor in a manner benefitting White and others. In a news release, the FCA said that White had a duty to make sure his submissions were correct and not influenced by his own financial interests or the interests of others.<\/p>\n
The regulator provided a transcript that included electronic messages between a broker at another bank and White. The messages indicated that they worked together to rig Libor. <\/p>\n
White was the recipient of 68 communications from RBS derivatives traders for Libor submissions. In the exchanges, said the FCA, the traders sought to help their trading positions. There was also a Swiss franc trader that purportedly made such requests verbally for twenty months. White also received requests from a yen derivatives trader who did not work at the firm. <\/p>\n
The FCA\u2019s final notice states that White claims that although he took into account trading positions when issuing Libor submissions, his entries were always \u201ccorrect\u201d and within a range that was acceptable according Libor\u2019s definition. White claimed that he engaged in seemingly improper communications only to \u201cappease.\u201d FCA, however, rejects White\u2019s account of what happened. Yet despite imposing an industry bar against him, the regulator waived what could have been a $354,000 fine because White is undergoing financial difficulties.\n<\/p>\n