Libor and Euribor remain at crisis levels as interbank lending continues to exist in a near-frozen state.Government policy-makers continue to dig into their bags of tricks for solutions to the problems.
Among those to be charged was Tom Hayes a former trader at UBS and Citigroup, followed by two men formerly at the interbank money brokerage RP Martin.
The transactions also involved traders at some interbank brokers, including the Harlow subsidiary of Garban Intercapital and Tullett Liberty, which facilitate foreign currency trades between banks.
Decent ones include Revolut, which offers exchanges into more than 80 currencies at "perfect interbank rates" – the top rates banks give each other.
For the most part, they are European banks and investment companies, which borrow in the short-term money market at the interbank rate and buy five-year or ten-year corporate bonds.
Available in the U.K./Europe, the new Revolut offering enables companies to sign up for multi-currency accounts, where they'll be able to hold and transfer money across 25 supported currencies at the interbank exchange rate, as well as doing things like issuing employees with corporate cards for "global fee-free spending".
Some Western commentators have embraced the move as a step toward liberalizing the yuan because, per sanctioned media releases, "the exchange rate will will be based more on the previous day's closing rate at the interbank foreign exchange market".
Costs were based on the latest available data from 2010 obtained in the local currency unit and converted to euro at the interbank rate, where applicable.
Three former staff at Icap, another interbank brokerage, have also been charged.
Banks borrow at the low interbank rate, then lend to trust companies and smaller banks who in turn make riskier loans.
