EU hypocrites!

From The Economist –

“If the EU had assessed its own members honestly, it is hard to imagine the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Ireland—home to particularly rococo tax schemes attractive to American tech groups—not being on it. Some might add Britain, too.”

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Financial supervision - One regulator to rule them all

From The Economist –

“The new masters of the financial universe are neither bank bosses nor hedge-fund titans. They are the regulators whose job it is to make finance safer. Daniel Tarullo, Andrew Bailey and Danièle Nouy, senior regulators in America, Britain and the euro zone respectively, may not have the salaries, egos or profiles of Wall Street superstars, but the decisions they and people like them make are shaping the industry. As John Mack, a former boss of Morgan Stanley, reportedly told his successor: “The government is your number-one client.” Even for those who deeply mistrust finance, that ought to give pause.”

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Former City trader Tom Hayes given 14-year sentence for Libor rigging

From The Guardian –

“Former City trader Tom Hayes has been sentenced to 14 years in jail after becoming the first person to be convicted by a jury of rigging the Libor interest rate.

Hayes, 35, a former UBS and Citigroup yen derivatives trader, was convicted of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Sentencing him at London’s Southwark crown court, Mr Justice Cooke said: “The conduct involved here is to be marked out as dishonest and wrong and a message sent to the world of banking accordingly. The reputation of Libor is important to the city as a financial sector and the banking institutions of the City.

“Probity and honesty is essential as is trust. The Libor activity of which you played a leading part put all that in jeopardy.”

When the judge announced his sentence, Hayes – dressed in a light blue shirt and dark blue jumper with black slacks – put his head in his hands and ran his hands through his hair. During the reading of the judgement he shook his head repeatedly.”

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