The U.S. Justice Department is looking into possible crimes by the 99%'s least favorite people: Banksters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe into whether the world's biggest banks manipulated a global benchmark rate that is at the heart of a wide range of loans and derivatives, from trillions of dollars of mortgages and bonds to interest rate swaps, a person familiar with the matter said.
While the Justice Department's inquiry into the setting of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, was known, the criminal aspect of the probe was not.
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The rate underpins $10 trillion in loans to consumers and companies and another $350 trillion in derivatives. In the derivatives market, Libor is used in the pricing of the massive and popular interest-rate swaps market, where two parties swap floating- and fixed-rate interest payments. Libor typically is used as the basis for the floating rate.
This is breaking news - and exclusive from Reuters.
I am no financial expert, but but the cynic in me would not be surprised if this case was the result of one group of ludicrously wealthy persons snitching on even more ludicrously rich persons. You don't think the Justice Department would actually be looking out for the little guy, do you?