I guess it's no shock that an industry that produces nothing of any real value......

[marmar]

...... resorts to schemes, gimmicks, usury and outright fraud for profit.



(Independent UK) The interest-rate fixing scandal could leave British banks exposed to multi-billion-pound civil actions, experts have warned.

City insiders have raised the prospect of "BP-style" mass litigation against Barclays and other banks implicated in the Libor scam. BP was forced to set aside $20bn (£12.6bn) to just to cover civil compensation claims resulting from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, and still faces a raft of civil litigation.

Some lawsuits have already started in the US, including one filed by US broker Charles Schwab against a number of banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS.

Fears that Britain's leading banks will face a wave of costly actions were highlighted in a memo from analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS) following a meeting with Barclays' embattled chief executive Bob Diamond on Thursday. The memo said: &quot We believe) shares will continue to drift lower until we have much greater certainty on the following: litigation risk (taking BP as a case in point), political and regulatory backlash (and) management's accountability." ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/banks-face-lawsuits-worth-billions-over-libor-scam-7902918.html

[RKP5637]

1. Some of these outfits should definitely go out of business IMO. The world would

be a better place for it, and it would be so deserving.

[TomClash]

2. Very few people understand what "finance" really is nt

[johnd83]

3. Lewis black from 2007...

“You don’t want another Enron? Here’s the law: If you have a company, and you can’t explain, in one sentence, what the fuck it does, it’s illegal!”

-Lewis Black

I guess there is some general consensus on what a bank is supposed to do but they sure aren't doing what they are supposed to these days.