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Financial Market Misconduct and Public Enforcement: The Case of Libor Manipulation

Author

Listed:
  • Priyank Gandhi

    (Mendoza College of Business and University of Notre Dame)

  • Benjamin Golez

    (University of Notre Dame)

  • Jens Carsten Jackwerth

    (University of Konstanz)

  • Alberto Plazzi

    (USI Lugano and Swiss Finance Institute)

Abstract

Using comprehensive data on London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor) submissions from 2001 through 2012, we document systematic evidence consistent with banks manipulating Libor to profit from Libor related positions and, to a degree, to signal their creditworthiness during the distressed times for banks. The evidence is initially stronger for banks that were eventually sanctioned by the regulators and disappears for all banks post-2010 in the aftermath of Libor investigations. Our findings suggest that public enforcement, with the threat of large penalties and the loss of reputation, can be effective in deterring financial market misconduct.

Suggested Citation

  • Priyank Gandhi & Benjamin Golez & Jens Carsten Jackwerth & Alberto Plazzi, 2017. "Financial Market Misconduct and Public Enforcement: The Case of Libor Manipulation," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 17-53, Swiss Finance Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1753
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas B. King & Kurt F. Lewis, 2020. "Credit Risk, Liquidity, and Lies," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(5), pages 219-267, October.
    2. Michele Fabrizi & Xing Huan & Antonio Parbonetti, 2021. "When LIBOR becomes LIEBOR: Reputational penalties and bank contagion," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 157-178, February.
    3. Zsuzsanna Győri & Yahya Khan & Krisztina Szegedi, 2021. "Business Model and Principles of a Values-Based Bank—Case Study of MagNet Hungarian Community Bank," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    4. Louis, Philippos & Núñez, Matías & Xefteris, Dimitrios, 2023. "Trimming extreme reports in preference aggregation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 116-151.
    5. Nuria Boot & Timo Klein & Maarten Pieter Schinkel, 2017. "Collusive Benchmark Rates Fixing," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-122/VII, Tinbergen Institute, revised 17 Apr 2019.
    6. Kirti, Divya, 2022. "What are reference rates for?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Li, Ming & Sun, Hang & Zong, Jichuan, 2021. "Intertemporal imitation behavior of interbank offered rate submissions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    8. Nuria Boot & Timo Klein & Maarten Pieter Schinkel, 2017. "Collusive Benchmark Rates Fixing," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1715, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Kryzanowski, Lawrence & Perrakis, Stylianos & Zhong, Rui, 2021. "Financial oligopolies and parallel exclusion in the credit default swap markets," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    10. Robert Jarrow & Siguang Li, 2023. "Interest rate swaps: a comparison of compounded daily versus discrete reference rates," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Herrera, Rubén & Climent, Francisco & Carmona, Pedro & Momparler, Alexandre, 2022. "The manipulation of Euribor: An analysis with machine learning classification techniques," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    12. Pontines, Victor & Rummel, Ole, 2023. "LIBOR meets machine learning: A Lasso regression approach to detecting data irregularities," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    13. Jiyoung Lee & Jung Jae Kim & Jinook Jeong, 2022. "An Empirical Assessment of Collusion in the Negotiable Certificates of Deposit Market in Korea: A Discriminant Analysis," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 203-223, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Libor; manipulation; financial market misconduct; enforcement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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