HedgeWorld – Bob Diamond and the rest of the Barclays board sowed the seeds of their own downfall when they chose to come clean about LIBOR fixing and settle ahead of more than a dozen rivals that are still under investigation. Those two fateful decisions cost three bosses their jobs — and could leave the firm damaged for many years to come.
Board members elected to launch an internal investigation, which cost £100 million ($154.7 million), and shared the findings with regulators, believing that they were doing the right thing — and that being the first firm to come clean would create political capital. Observers at rival banks suspect the legal advisers for Barclays told the board that an early settlement would also reduce any liabilities when it came to lawsuits from aggrieved counterparties.
