A couple of interesting stories floating around today. The FT reports that a senior UK banker has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the rigging of the Libor interbank rate.
The second comes from Sky News, which reports that two directors of HSBC’s UK arm are poised to quit in protest at new Bank of England rules that pave the way for lengthy jail sentences to be imposed on senior managers of failed lenders.
Both are interesting to consider within the context of REMIT and the UK government considering introducing criminal sanctions for REMIT-style breeches in power and gas markets. While proposed sanctions for market abuse in commodity markets are not as far-reaching or as stringent as in the financial sector yet, it does show the potential path they could go.