CNBC’s Rick Santelli has just called Ben Bernanke’s Senate testimony regarding LIBOR manipulation the ‘Smoking Gun’ the Fed was involved and manipulated rates.
The fed chairman and the e-mails partially in the journal today all talked about discussions that were known to the chairman. Right here, he said that the manipulation of rates was a little bit low by certain banks but they just wanted to show they were healthy during the crisis. Manipulation is manipulation!!! People on the trading floor heard that! They thought basically that’s the smoking gun, whether it is Geithner, Gensler, and Chairman Bernanke, they knew submissions were low!
What’s your definition of manipulation? If you murder your neighbor and it was an accident, is there not still a hearing? Is there not still a trial? …
Hhe didn’t really explain why there was no public disclosure of the problems they found in libor. Even more than public disclosure, the issue would be why have regulators — if regulators see things that aren’t right and manipulation even if there is a good reason and totally ignore it, why do we have regulators?
To clarify Mr. Chairman, you just admitted that banks submitted false rates during the financial crisis (AND THAT YOU WERE AWARE OF THIS FACT!!) in order to appear healthy during the crisis.
This is the same as a fast food burger flipper falsifying pay stubs to demonstrate he makes $50,000 weekly in order to afford a new crib in the Hamptons….just so his finances appear healthy to the lender of course.
Apparently falsifying financial documents is not considered a fraudulent felony if you’re a large bank or Central Bank?