The SFO and LIBOR – end of the line

Neil Williams (+44 (0)203 910 4566, neil.williams@rahmanravelli.co.uk)is legal director with business crime solicitors Rahman Ravelli, where hespecialisesin cross-border, global bribery and corruption cases.

With trust in banking already at an historic low afterthe financial crisis, further revelations in 2012 that traders had been manipulatingthe global interest rate benchmark confirmed widely-held views that the sectorwas noxious to the core. George Osborne, then-chancellor of the exchequer inthe UK, called it a “shocking indictment of the culture at banks” and on 6 Julythat year UK Serious Fraud Office director David Green formally acceptedthe matter for investigation. Yet the outcomes have been underwhelming to saythe least. Neil Williams of Rahman Ravelli explains why nobody shouldbe surprised that the SFO ended its lengthy investigation into LIBOR fixing.