Earlier this week, the SFO had said it was already working closely with the FSA and today its director, David Green, formally announced its intention to take matters further towards a possible prosecution.
On 2 July, the SFO confirmed: “The issues are complex and the assessment of the evidence the FSA has gathered will take a short time, but we hope to come to a conclusion within a month.”
It is already aware of similar activities in the US, saying it is “aware of investigations in other jurisdictions and [is] working with the relevant authorities”.
The Libor-fixing scandal has engulfed Barclays and forced the resignation of Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond as well as its chairman Marcus Agius. Agius has subsequently said his was just a statement of intent to resign and will stay on to help recruit a successor to Diamond.
The announcement from the SFO follows an in-depth investigation form the FSA as well as the promise from Prime Minister David Cameron to set up a parliamentary enquiry run by Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee.
Cameron’s Chancellor, George Osborne, has already promised o beef up the SFO’s budget in readiness for its examination.
Whoever does the investigation will need to answer questions around which politicians knew about the rate-fixing as well as which other banks are involved as Barclays alone, according to experts, would not have been able to manipulate Libor to the extent that it was.
