FCA bans RBS Libor submitter from working in financial services
The FCA has banned former Royal Bank of Scotland staffer and Libor submitter Paul White from working in regulated financial services again, saying it would have fined him £250,000 "were it not for White's serious financial hardship".
White, who worked as a Japanese Yen (JPY) and Swiss Franc (CHF) Libor submitter, is "not a fit and proper person because he lacks integrity by virtue of his conduct when submitting RBS’ JPY and CHF rates to the British Bankers Association (BBA), which used to administer Libor," the regulator said this morning.
Between March 2007 and November 2010, White was acted in a "reckless" manner, by acceding to spoken and written requests from Japanese yen and Swiss franc traders, asking for him to make submissions that would benefit their positions. He also took into account requests made by brokers on behalf of an external derivatives trader.
Mark Steward, director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “As a Libor submitter White had an obligation to ensure the submissions he made were proper ones.
"By allowing his submissions to be set, in effect, by those with collateral financial interests in the outcome, White recklessly disregarded the risk – the obvious risk – that his Libor submission might corrupt Libor’s integrity.
"This ban should reinforce the message that working in financial markets entails obligations and responsibilities and that serious failures will result in substantial penalties including fines and prohibitions.”
This is the FCA’s fourth public action against a trader for manipulating Libor submissions.