LIBOR: How a Small Group Bent the Number Behind Global Contracts
On December 19, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a penalty that pulled LIBOR out of banking jargon and into public view: UBS would pay $700 million for manipulating, attempting to manipulate, and falsely reporting LIBOR and other benchmark rates. On the same day, UBS Securities Japan agreed to plead guilty to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Regulators were not describing a typing error. They described employees trying to move an interest rate in a direction that helped their own trades.
⬛ CONFIDENTIAL nhat141210/data 8/14/2026 1 min read
On December 19, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a penalty that pulled LIBOR out of banking jargon and into public view: UBS would pay $700 million for manipulating, attempting to manipulate, and falsely reporting LIBOR and other benchmark rates. On the same day, UBS Securities Japan agreed to plead guilty to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Regulators were not describing a typing error. They described employees trying to move an interest rate in a direction that helped their own trades.
On December 19, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a penalty that pulled LIBOR out of banking jargon and into public view: UBS would pay $700 million for manipulating, attempting to manipulate, and falsely reporting LIBOR and other benchmark rates. On the same day, UBS Securities Japan agreed to plead guilty to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Regulators were not describing a typing error. They described employees trying to move an interest rate in a direction that helped their own trades.
On December 19, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a penalty that pulled LIBOR out of banking jargon and into public view: UBS would pay $700 million for manipulating, attempting to manipulate, and falsely reporting LIBOR and other benchmark rates. On the same day, UBS Securities Japan agreed to plead guilty to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Regulators were not describing a typing error. They described employees trying to move an interest rate in a direction that helped their own trades.
On December 19, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a penalty that pulled LIBOR out of banking jargon and into public view: UBS would pay $700 million for manipulating, attempting to manipulate, and falsely reporting LIBOR and other benchmark rates. On the same day, UBS Securities Japan agreed to plead guilty to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Regulators were not describing a typing error. They described employees trying to move an interest rate in a direction that helped their own trades.
On December 19, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a penalty that pulled LIBOR out of banking jargon and into public view: UBS would pay $700 million for manipulating, attempting to manipulate, and falsely reporting LIBOR and other benchmark rates. On the same day, UBS Securities Japan agreed to plead guilty to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Regulators were not describing a typing error. They described employees trying to move an interest rate in a direction that helped their own trades.