Holding Bankers to Account

Dr Oonagh McDonald, CBE is an international financial regulatory expert. Her books include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Turning the American Dream into a Nightmare (2012) and Lehman Brothers: A Crisis of Value (2015).

‘There is much to recommend the book — especially for the student of City of London history. … Particularly engaging is the way McDonald traces the evolution of regulation — from the roots of the Big Bang to the modern day. … She argues compellingly that the Big Bang capped off an existing market shift and was, in any case, not the rabid deregulation of simplistic portrayal. … Anyone with a keen interest in regulation will learn a lot.’Financial Times'A forensic inquiry into the workings of the financial markets. Macdonald's deeply researched work on misbehaviour on the part of banks and other institutions in the LIBOR and FOREX markets deserves to be read by everyone concerned with well-behaved markets. She throws new light on a subject we thought we knew well.' Lord Meghnad Desai, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics‘Finally, an authoritative and balanced account of the LIBOR, foreign exchange and precious metals price fixing scandals written by a scholar deeply familiar with financial market transactions and their history. That combination allows Oonagh McDonald to pinpoint the weaknesses in internal governance and external regulation that corrupted these markets, and offer a compelling roadmap for reform.’Charles W. Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia Business School'Dr. Oonagh McDonald has written a detailed and insightful account of the manipulation of financial market benchmarks and prices (LIBOR, foreign exchange, gold and silver), and subsequent reforms to benchmarks and their regulation, which can only have been written by an expert. Oonagh concludes that the UK’s Senior Managers’ and Certification Regime, designed to hold senior bankers to account, offers big banks the opportunity, through demonstrating responsible management, to re-build their reputations and restore public trust in them.'Professor Andy Mullineux, Birmingham Business School

• Part I: LIBOR, A CHEQUERED HISTORY, 1968–20171 A decade of deregulation?2 The evolution of LIBOR3 Manipulation abounds4 Yet more banks are involved 5 Who knew what when?Part II: A DECADE OR MORE OF CHANGE IN THE FOREX MARKET6 A rapidly changing Forex market7 Manipulating ForexPart III: WAS THE PRECIOUS METAL MARKET RIGGED?8 Gold and silver fixing Part IV: REGULATORY REFORM9 Reforming benchmarks10 Holding senior bankers to accountAppendix: Fines imposed on banks by regulatory authoritiesIndex