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LIBOR: origins, economics, crisis, scandal, and reform

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Listed:
  • David Hou
  • David R. Skeie

Abstract

The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is a widely used indicator of funding conditions in the interbank market. As of 2013, LIBOR underpins more than $300 trillion of financial contracts, including swaps and futures, in addition to trillions more in variable-rate mortgage and student loans. LIBOR's volatile behavior during the financial crisis provoked questions surrounding its credibility. Ongoing regulatory investigations have uncovered misconduct by a number of financial institutions. Policymakers across the globe now face the task of reforming LIBOR in the aftermath of the scandal and crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • David Hou & David R. Skeie, 2014. "LIBOR: origins, economics, crisis, scandal, and reform," Staff Reports 667, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednsr:667
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Acharya, Viral V. & Skeie, David, 2011. "A model of liquidity hoarding and term premia in inter-bank markets," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(5), pages 436-447.
    2. Darrell Duffie & David R. Skeie & James Vickery, 2013. "A sampling-window approach to transactions-based Libor fixing," Staff Reports 596, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    3. Vincent Brousseau & Alexandre Chailloux & Alain Durré, 2009. "Interbank Offered Rate: Effects of the financial crisis on the information content of the fixing," Working Papers 2009-ECO-10, IESEG School of Management.
    4. Jacob Gyntelberg & Philip Wooldridge, 2008. "Interbank rate fixings during the recent turmoil," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    5. François-Louis Michaud & Christian Upper, 2008. "What drives interbank rates? Evidence from the Libor panel," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    6. John Taylor & John Williams, 2008. "Further Results on a Black Swan in the Money Market," Discussion Papers 07-046, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Eclipsing LIBOR
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2017-09-04 17:29:38

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    Cited by:

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    2. Duffie, Darrell & Dworczak, Piotr, 2021. "Robust benchmark design," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 775-802.
    3. Mikhail V. Oet & John M. Dooley & Stephen J. Ong, 2015. "The Financial Stress Index: Identification of Systemic Risk Conditions," Risks, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Alfred Wong & Jiayue Zhang, 2018. "Breakdown of covered interest parity: mystery or myth?," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), The price, real and financial effects of exchange rates, volume 96, pages 57-78, Bank for International Settlements.
    5. 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.
    6. Bariviera, Aurelio F. & Guercio, M. Belén & Martinez, Lisana B. & Rosso, Osvaldo A., 2016. "Libor at crossroads: Stochastic switching detection using information theory quantifiers," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 172-182.
    7. Mayu Kikuchi & Alfred Wong & Jiayue Zhang, 2019. "Risk of window dressing: quarter-end spikes in the Japanese yen Libor-OIS spread," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 149-166, December.
    8. Eross, Andrea & Urquhart, Andrew & Wolfe, Simon, 2016. "Liquidity risk contagion in the interbank market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 142-155.
    9. Andrzej Cwynar & Wiktor Cwynar & Monika Baryła-Matejczuk & Moises Betancort, 2019. "Sustainable Debt Behaviour and Well-Being of Young Adults: The Role of Parental Financial Socialisation Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-26, December.
    10. Jonathan A. Batten & Igor Lončarski & Peter G. Szilagyi, 2018. "When Kamay Met Hill: Organisational Ethics in Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 779-792, February.
    11. Elizabeth C. Klee & Zeynep Senyuz & Emre Yoldas, 2016. "Effects of Changing Monetary and Regulatory Policy on Overnight Money Markets," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2016-084, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    12. Alfred Wong & David Leung & Calvin Ng, 2016. "Risk-adjusted Covered Interest Parity: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 162016, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    13. Yoldas, Emre & Senyuz, Zeynep, 2018. "Financial stress and equilibrium dynamics in term interbank funding markets," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 136-149.
    14. Aryal, Gaurab & Gabrielli, Maria F., 2012. "Is Collusion Proof Auction Expensive? Estimates from Highway Procurements," MPRA Paper 57353, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Feb 2014.
    15. Thomas B. King & Kurt F. Lewis, 2014. "What Drives Bank Funding Spreads?," Working Paper Series WP-2014-23, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    16. Ren'e Aid & Giorgia Callegaro & Luciano Campi, 2019. "No-Arbitrage Commodity Option Pricing with Market Manipulation," Papers 1909.07896, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2020.
    17. Kleinow, Jacob & Moreira, Fernando, 2016. "Systemic risk among European banks: A copula approach," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 27-42.
    18. Darrell Duffie & Jeremy C. Stein, 2015. "Reforming LIBOR and Other Financial Market Benchmarks," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(2), pages 191-212, Spring.
    19. Chen, Jiakai, 2021. "LIBOR's poker," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    20. Alfred Wong & David Leung & Calvin Ng, 2016. "How do housing purchase limits affect firm default risks in Mainland China?," Working Papers 172016, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    21. Bachmair, K., 2023. "The Effects of the LIBOR Scandal on Volatility and Liquidity in LIBOR Futures Markets," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2303, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    22. Piotr Mielus, 2016. "Dylematy reformy indeksów rynku finansowego," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 91-114.
    23. Aurelio F. Bariviera & M. Belen Guercio & Lisana B. Martinez & Osvaldo A. Rosso, 2015. "A permutation Information Theory tour through different interest rate maturities: the Libor case," Papers 1509.00217, arXiv.org.
    24. Nahla Ghazi Aljudaibi & Shabir Ahmad Hakim & Tahar Tayachi, 2018. "Modeling Prices of Islamic Commodity Swaption نمذجة أسعار عقود سلع المبادلة الإسلامية," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 31(2), pages 111-131, July.
    25. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    LIBOR; financial crisis; scandals; interbank; banking; reference rates; interest rates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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