The LIBOR Is Safe Now — The Brits Are Selling It to NYSE, Operating from London!

July 10, 2013 • 9:16AM

Those who worried that the swindle of the century — the stealing of hundreds of billions by the big banks through manipulation of the LIBOR rate in London — might be swept under the rug with the few paltry billions in fines imposed on a few banks, need not worry any longer. After a careful investigation and study of the enormous crime carried out 8by the British Bankers' Association (a group of the biggest City of London bankers who determined the LIBOR rate daily), the British authorities have found the solution — LIBOR will be sold to that paragon of virtue, the New York Stock Exchange.

NYSE Euronext, which runs the NYSE, will, according to the Wall Street Journal (clearly laughing into their cuff-linked sleeves), "restore Libor's international credibility."

The Urinal gloats, "The deal means that the City of London will lose one of the institutions most closely associated with its rise as a global financial hub in recent decades. The new owner will be the institution that is most closely associated with Wall Street. At the same time, the transaction highlights the rise of companies such as NYSE Euronext into major players in the markets for financial derivatives."

But before accepting that Wall Street is in competition with the City of London, read on in the Urinal: "As part of its acquisition of Libor, NYSE Euronext will set up a new U.K. legal entity, NYSE Euronext Rate Administration Ltd., to administer the benchmark. That subsidiary will be regulated by the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority."

So, will they at least change the way they set the rate, where banks are asked what rate they are charging for interbank lending, with a "trust-us" approach? No: "At least initially, NYSE Euronext is expected to continue the current process for calculating Libor." Not to worry, however, for sometime in the future the new owner plans to work with "market participants and regulators" to "evolve how Libor is calculated." One can be certain that this will not happen before Mt. Olympus crumbles into the English Channel.