• Former Barclays COO Jerry del Missier faces TSC

• Missier regarded lowering Libor as BoE instruction

• Missier: Libor move did not seem "inappropriate"

• Missier: Compliance told of Libor-lowering request

• Lord Turner among FSA senior staff to also face MPs

• FSA's Bailey: 'Culture of gaming' at Barclays

• FSA's Turner: 'Amazed' if no further market abuses

• Seven banks under investigation in Libor probe



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20.04 With that, we're wrapping up this live blog for today. Many thanks for reading.

20.03 After more than three hours of evidence this afternoon, here are some of the key points that we have heard:

- Jerry del Missier, former chief operating officer at Barclays, said he ordered staff to manipulate interest rates in line with instructions from his then boss, Bob Diamond, following a conversation between Diamond and the Bank of England.

- Del Missier said he had acted on instructions from his boss and did not see anything wrong with what he was doing - "At the time it did not seem an inappropriate action given that this was coming from the Bank of England,"

- Andrew Bailey, head of the Prudential Business Unit at the FSA, said there was a "sort of culture of gaming" at Barclays and the regulator had had enough.

- Lord Adair Turner, FSA chairman, said Barclays "had a cultural tendency to be always pushing the limit" of what was allowed under banking rules.

- Lord Turner was not aware of issues relating to the potential manipulation of Libor until November 2009 when he was briefed by Hector Sants, then the FSA's chief executive.

- Lord Turner said he ordered an investigation into how the FSA missed repeated warnings from Barclays staff that the Libor was being manipulated.

- Seven more banks, not all of them British, are being investigated in the FSA's Libor probe.

19.52 Sorry, think I might have got the wrong end of the stick on the FSA executives being back in front of the committee tomorrow. In fact, it's Sir Mervyn King, Bank of England governor in front of the committee tomorrow at 10am. He'll be joined by his deputy, Paul Tucker.

19.36 This afternoon's hearing has just been wrapped up. The FSA executives will conclude their testimony tomorrow.

19.31 Lord Turner says he spoke to the Barclays chairman, Marcus Agius, on July 6 and said the board had to consider carefully about scale of change. He adds he was surprised about Mr Agius stepping down, saying he expected Bob Diamond to go after their conversation. Lord Turner says that he and the Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, were "at one" with message to Barclays that Bob Diamond had to go.

19.27 Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, has penned this blog on Barclays' 'culture of pushing the limits':

Jerry del Missier's evidence to MPs, coupled with that of Andrew Bailey of the FSA, reinforced what many will see as a depressing picture of Barclays as a giant global bank with pockets of severe rot in its culture.

The former number two at the bank - who resigned just under a fortnight ago - said that he was unaware of systematic lying over several years about the interest rates the bank was paying by traders who worked for him.

19.22 Some rather testy exchanges about the timeliness of the FSA's response to Libor concerns. Lord Turner says they've been pushing on Libor as fast as they can. He adds that Libor is a huge problem and that they should have spotted it earlier.

19.20 Simon Nixon, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, thinks he's found Lord Turner's first slip-up of the session:

<noframe>Twitter: Simon Nixon - FSA's Adair Turner just said "risk map". First stumble of day. Reveals McKinseyite roots.</noframe>

19.17 McDermott says the FSA has got emails in the probe into seven banks.

19.09 Bailey says there needs to be more emphasis on audit and internal compliance within banks.

19.08 McDermott says there are a number of other banks and institutions under investigation over the manipulation of Libor. Seven institutions, not all British, are being investigated, she says. She adds they don't know about all the investigations out there.

19.04 The FSA executives have been pressed on why the organisation had not undertaken any criminal investigations:

<noframe>Twitter: Richard Partington - David Ruffley pressing on why the FSA has not undertaken any criminal investigations. McDermott says FSA could but that its not its place to</noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: Richard Partington - She says the FSA would discuss potentially criminal wrongdoing with other authorities, such as the SFO. Pat McFadden asks did you press SFO?</noframe>

19.00 Lord Turner says that Barclays 'weren't being totally honest with us' when discussing problems with setting the Libor rate. He told the committee that Barclays employees talked about "dislocations" in the Libor rates and didn't say that anyone was submitting false rates.

18.53 Darren Lazarus, online editor of Financial News, believes there are two questions the TSC has yet to ask the FSA on LIbor:

<noframe>Twitter: Darren Lazarus - 2 questions the TSC has yet to ask FSA on <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Libor" target="_blank">#Libor</a>: (1) Why did it clear del Missier of wrongdoing ? (2) Why did it allow his promotion to COO</noframe>

18.46 McDermott said that Barclays has "bent over backwards" to aid the regulator in its investigation. Here's Steve Hawkes from The Sun:

<noframe>Twitter: steve hawkes - FSA's lawyer on Barclays: "They have bent over backwards to move this forward. They have been extremely cooperative."</noframe>

18.35 Lord Turner says he was not aware of issues with manipulation of Libor until November 2009.

18.26 To recap, this is what Lord Turner said on why it took so long to act:

Part of the story of the FSA at that time is that we did have, we never used the word, a somewhat light touch regulation in particular in those areas of wholesale conduct.

We were only to a small extent focused on the activities of investment banks. We only had about five people on Barclays and five people on RBS. At one stage we only had one person that was shared between Barclays and RBS.

18.23 He adds that the FSA has been in contact with the SFO throughout the investigation. He says the FSA is not able to bring a criminal case over Libor.

18.21 Lord Turner tells the committee that the FSA could have supervised the setting of Libor rates if it wanted to.

18.15 Lord Turner adds that in the past, the FSA did have a light touch approach to regulation particularly in wholesale areas. He says the FSA was focused in the past only to a small extent on investment banks.

18.13 Lord Turner says he would be amazed if market abuse wasn't more widespread than evidenced by emails and other electronic traces.

18.09 And Steve Hawkes of The Sun tweets:

<noframe>Twitter: steve hawkes - Place your bets ! FSA's Lord Turner confirms again that investigations into other banks are ongoing in the UK over Libor</noframe>

18.07 This is what Faisal Islam, economics editor at Channel 4, makes of the testimony:

<noframe>Twitter: Faisal Islam - So i think if Diamond had not settled the Libor case: he would still be chief exec. As FSA wouldve done nothing re its litany of complaints</noframe>

18.05 She is also explaining about how the FSA decided on the size of the fine. The US calculate their fines in a different way, she says. She believes the Barclays fine was appropriate - it's almost twice the highest penalty they've imposed in the past.

18.03 Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, is also being quizzed by MPs. She says it was widely known in 2007/08 that the Libor market was not operating in the way it had previously done.

18.00 Lord Turner says the letter he sent to Barclays about the regulator's concerns was the only time he has sent such a message to a bank:

This is the only letter of this sort that I have sent in my time at the FSA.

17.56 Bailey says he had never had a conversation with a bank like the one with Barclays and that the bank was an outlier. He says, though, that his relationship with Bob Diamond was not antagonistic.

17.55 This is what Mark Kleinman makes of the FSA testimony so far:

<noframe>Twitter: Mark Kleinman - Damning testimony from Lord Turner and Andrew Bailey about Barclays' interaction with regulators. If anything, FSA not robust enough.</noframe>

17.48 Bailey reckons that Bob Diamond did not capture the severity of the issue in his answers to an earlier committee hearing.

17.47 The minutes of the Barclays board meeting in February - which Bailey attended - say that resolving the perception of aggressive culture "was critical to the future of the group".

17.41 Bailey told Barclays that trust had broken down; he was concerned about Barclays' behaviour in relation to the FSA. He said there was a 'culture of gaming' at Barclays and the FSA had had enough.

17.38 Andrew Bailey, head of the Prudential Business Unit at the FSA, is also giving evidence alongside Lord Turner.

17.37 Lord Turner says there were historic concerns from the FSA over Barclays' risk appetite.

17.35 After a very brief break, Lord Adair Turner is now in front of the TSC.

17.29 Del Missier acknowledges that the episode is a 'poor reflection' on the bank. With that, Del Missier finishes giving evidence and we wait for Lord Adair Turner and co from the FSA to arrive.

17.22 Compliance unit was apparently told by the money market desk of the request to reduce Libor submissions. Del Missier says the compliance unit did not follow-up back to him or anyone in senior management.

17.18 Del Missier says he can understand that there is resentment towards Barclays and the banks.

17.16 Mark Dearlove was head of the money market desk, to whom Del Missier relayed the instruction. He adds that he explicitly passed on the instruction to lower Libor rates.

17.14 He's being asked about how much his bonus is predicated on good controls. Del Missier is asked for a percentage, but says he was never told.

17.12 "We're professional friends, but we don't socialise very often," says Del Missier when asked if he's friends with Bob Diamond. Del Missier does not think he's acting as the 'fall guy'.

17.11 The FSA cleared Del Missier of any wrongdoing in September 2011, he says. As Richard Partington of Financial News points out:

<noframe>Twitter: Richard Partington - FSA cleared del Missier of wrongdoing in Sept 2011. Questions for Lord Turner &amp; Co... who are up next.</noframe>

17.08 Mark Kleinman of Sky News reckons that the key question has not yet been asked of Del Missier:

<noframe>Twitter: Mark Kleinman - Killer question not yet asked of del Missier: if he was unaware of so much in his business, how could he justify being paid such huge sums?</noframe>

17.02 Del Missier says he regrets the "control breakdowns". Earlier, he said there was "clearly a breach of fundamental control and that is exactly why we found ourselves in this position and why we paid a large fine and why we instituted significant enhancements as a result of that."

16.59 Del Missier says his October 2008 instruction to submit lower Libor rates only lasted for days and was not open-ended. He was not aware of Barclays submitting lower Libor rates before the October 2008 conversation with Bob Diamond.

16.57 Jonathan Sibun of the Telegraph tweets that Andrew Tyrie is not impressed with Del Missier:

<noframe>Twitter: Jonathan Sibun - Tyrie not impressed with Del Missier: "There are some implausible facts. It's a question of how many at once."</noframe>

16.52 Del Missier has said he was not aware of other market manipulation at the bank.

16.51 Jonathan Rosenthal, banking editor at The Economist, points out:

<noframe>Twitter: Jonathan Rosenthal - So what exactly did Jerrie del Missier discuss with Paul Tucker re <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Libor" target="_blank">#Libor</a>? He dangled the bait, but MPs aren't following up on it.</noframe>

16.44 Del Missier has said that he was not aware of any pressure on Libor submitters to adjust rates in 2007, or prior illegal trading.

<noframe>Twitter: Louise Armitstead - Del Missier being very careful about what/when knew about Libor - &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know about the specific incident in 2007.&rdquo;</noframe>

16.43 And the political correspondent of Sky News tweets:

<noframe>Twitter: glenoglazaSky - Del Missier absolutely clear: Claims Bob Diamond told him Paul Tucker of the BoE gave permission for Barclays to cut LIBOR rate <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Barclays" target="_blank">#Barclays</a></noframe>

16.40 Another tweet from Louise Armitstead, who believes:

<noframe>Twitter: Louise Armitstead - Del Missier dumping on Diamond: &ldquo;I only know what I clearly recollect&rdquo; - Diamond said &ldquo;we shld get Libor down and not be outliers.&rdquo;</noframe>

16.38 On the point about where Del Missier believed the instruction to lower Libor rates had come from, he told the head of the money markets desk that the instruction to lower rates had come from the BoE.

16.36 Del Missier says that he did not take legal advice on Libor submissions.

16.33 Del Missier says that no disciplinary action over Libor was ever taken.

16.31 Louise Armitstead of the Telegraph tweets her reaction to those comments:

<noframe>Twitter: Louise Armitstead - Del Missier agrees low-balling is &ldquo;improper&rdquo; won&rsquo;t go as far as wrongful... &ldquo;I regret the fact Barc reputation has been sullied.&rdquo; Wow.</noframe>

16.29 Del Missier regrets the fact that Barclays' reputation has been sullied.

16.28 He didn't consider lowballing as improper in October 2008.

16.25 Del Missier says he gave the instruction to the head of the money market desk head, he gave the instruction to one person and that he didn't follow it up.

16.24 David Ruffley has quizzed Del Missier over the legality of lowballing Libor. Del Missier disagrees that it was an illegal activity.

16.23 David Enrich of the Wall Street Journal says Del Missier is sticking to the script:

<noframe>Twitter: David Enrich - Del Missier sticking with existing script on <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Libor" target="_blank">#Libor</a>. Key question: Did Diamond/Tucker actually instruct to cut rates or did he misinterpret?</noframe>

16.17 Del Missier relayed his conversation with Mr Diamond to the head of his money markets desk and after relaying this conversation, he expected the money markets desk to lower Libor submissions.

16.16 Del Missier has told the committee that Diamond told him in October 2008 that Bank of England was putting pressure on the bank to get Libor rates down.

16.15 Del Missier says the rate at the time was "hugely subjective".

16.12 He is providing some context on the financial crisis, saying it had resulted in much government intervention. He mentions the credit guarantee scheme and capital injection into Lloyds HBOS.

16.11 Jerry Del Missier is now up in front of the committee.

15.59 The scandal of banks having manipulated the Libor global interest rate benchmark is taking a toll on confidence in the markets, the International Monetary Fund said today.

Jose Vinals, director of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department:

The most serious consequence of this scandal, which is under investigation, is that it undermines the certainty and the trust that markets have in benchmarks.

15.49 Lord Turner is likely to face questions over the regulator’s involvement and whether it was tough enough when rate rigging occurred. He could be asked too how involved he was in forcing Bob Diamond out of Barclays.

He could also be challenged on why the FSA didn’t react more to warnings about Libor and why the relationship with Barclays was strained. In April, he wrote to the chairman of Barclays Marcus Agius complaining about a “pattern of behaviour over the last few years” in which Barclays repeatedly appeared to push the rules.

In the letter, released as Marcus Agius appeared before the Treasury Select Committee earlier this month, Lord Turner said: “Barclays often seems to be seeking to gain advantage through the use of complex structures, or through arguing for regulatory approaches which are at the aggressive end of interpretation of the relevant rules and regulations.”

15.40 In a note released today, analyst Ian Gordon at Investec believes Barclays is being unfairly targeted but the bank will go from strength to strength despite the Libor rigging scandal:

Barclays is fighting a war against prejudice and ignorance but, in our view,

two

weeks of gradual, grudging outperformance versus sector peers is just the beginning of the fightback. Ahead of first-half results on July 27, as focus returns to the numbers, we examine the exceptional flexibility and resilience of Barclays’ operating model, which we believe underpins its ability to withstand a deteriorating economic outlook as well as a hostile regulatory and political environment. Keep the faith, buy the shares.

15.35 In his evidence to the TSC, Bob Diamond implicated senior ministers in the last Labour government, by claiming that Barclays repeatedly warned them that banks were improperly fixing the Libor interest rate.

15.30 Last week, Barclays chairman Marcus Agius was blasted by TSC chairman Andrew Tyrie for the bank's "lack of candour" after it redacted parts of FSA statement used during grilling of Bob Diamond.

15.25 Also in front of the TSC today are Lord Turner, executive chairman of the FSA; Andrew Bailey, head of the FSA's prudential business unit; and Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA.

Andrew Bailey is said to have been the senior regulator who warned Barclays' executives of failings in its culture. Earlier this month, it was reported that he told a board meeting in February of his misgivings about the bank's behaviour.

15.10 Del Missier will give his evidence at 4pm in what could be an embarrasing day for his former employer. He is accused of ordering his subordinates to rig the bank’s Libor submission in 2008.

Bob Diamond, the Barclays' former chief executive, told the committee that, although he had received some advice from the Bank of England on Barclays’ borrowing levels, it was Mr Del Missier who misinterpreted it as an instruction to low-ball Libor.

The TSC is likely to quiz Mr Del Missier on how the mistake was made and why he failed to check the instruction, given he knew it broke the rules. Sources at Barclays insist the former star executive has not been prepared for the hearing by the bank.