Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker denied trying to influence Barclay’s interest-rate submissions to make the bank appear to be on better financial footing than it actually was.
“Absolutely not,” Tucker told UK lawmakers when asked if he had encouraged the bank to artificially lower the rates it submits for the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.
Tucker told a parliamentary committee that he reached out to Barclays officials in 2008 during the height of the credit crisis to assess the health of the giant bank — not encourage execs to lower their Libor submissions.
“I wanted [then-CEO Robert Diamond] to be sure that the senior management of Barclays was overseeing [the day-to-day operations of Barclays] … so that Barclays did not inadvertently send distress signals [to the market], Tucker told the UK Treasury Select Committee.
“It’s very important not to come across as desperate,” he added.
Tucker asked to testify about the growing scandal after Barclays released e-mails suggesting that the Bank of England prompted Barclays to lower its Libor submissions to fall in line with other major lenders.
Barclays was fined $453 million by UK and US regulators over the Libor scandal, in which traders from the bank allegedly manipulated the benchmark rate used to calculate trillions of debt, including home mortgages.
The scandal has led to the resignations of top Barclays officials, including Diamond, COO Jerry del Missier and Chairman Marcus Agius.
Agius, who has stayed on to conduct a search for a successor for Diamond and himself, is expected to testify in front of the Select Committee tomorrow.