Dark horse: Lloyds sacks eight over LIBOR fraud

30 September 2014 -

“Lloyds

Bosses of 24% taxpayer-owned finance firm slam the door on workers who took part in rate rigging

Matt Packer

Senior executives at Lloyds Banking Group have sacked eight key staff members who participated in rigging of the LIBOR interest rate, the firm has announced.

The world-famous institution – in which the taxpayer has a 24% stake – has also paid a fine to the Bank of England for tinkering with a second financial gauge, the REPO rate. Thanks to its meddling on that front, Lloyds managed to deceive Bank of England chiefs about the amount of money it needed to pay them to take advantage of the UK central bank’s liquidity service.

It has now paid a £7.8 million penalty.

Lloyds chairman Lord Blackwell said: “The Board has been clear that it views the actions of those responsible for the misconduct referred to in the settlements as being completely unacceptable. It is entirely right that the Group undertook a prompt, independent and thorough disciplinary process immediately after the settlements were announced, and has taken appropriate action as a result.

He added: “A number of individuals have been dismissed. In addition, the Remuneration Committee is tasked with ensuring that the outcome of the disciplinary process and the significant reputational damage and financial cost to the group are fully and fairly reflected in the options considered in relation to other staff bonus payments.”

In other words, the pain will be spread across the Group’s personnel so that the discipline is felt on a staff-wide scale.

Lloyds chief executive António Horta-Osório said: “Having now taken disciplinary action against those individuals responsible for the totally unacceptable behaviour identified by the regulators’ investigations, the Board and the Group’s management team are committed to preventing this type of behaviour happening again.”

He stressed: “The changes we have implemented over the last three years as part of our successful customer-focused and UK-centric strategy have created a culture and values that focus totally on our retail and commercial customers. We are determined to make Lloyds Banking Group a company of the highest integrity and standards.”

For more on these issues, check out this CMI Checklist bundle Managing Human Resources, which includes tips on how to set up disciplinary procedures.

Image of Lloyds Bank sign courtesy of Thinglass / Shutterstock.

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