BoE: Continued Libor use is a threat to financial system

Global bodies transitioning to new alternatives

The Bank of England (BoE) has warned that the reliance on the Libor interest rate benchmark when setting mortgages, credit card loans and other global contracts could be a threat to the financial system.

Minutes from the Bank's 20 September financial policy committee (FPC) meeting, published on Tuesday, show officials raising concerns over the continued use of Libor to underpin $350trn in contracts, despite post-rigging scandal reforms to reduce risks. Secret recording implicates Bank of England in Libor rigging The 2012 rigging scandal came to light when Barclays became the first of many banks to be punished by authorities for the manipulation of the rate, with fines totalling billions of pounds. Despite coming to the negative assessment about the potential ramifications of the re...