Barclays Bankers Found Guilty in U.K. Libor Case

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Justice, delayed: Several bankers are paying the price for misdeeds – albeit roughly a decade after their crimes reportedly took place. Three former Barclays bankers – two Brits (Jonathan Mathew and Jay Merchant) and an American (Alex Pabon) – have been convicted of conspiracy to defraud in connection with efforts to manipulate Libor interest rates between June 2005 and September 2007. The London jury ultimately failed to issue a verdict for two additional defendants – Stylianos Contogoulas and Ryan Michael Reich.

This is the third criminal trial based in the U.K. since news about the Libor scandal started to come to light more than eight years ago. The U.S. has also pursued charges against more than a dozen bankers. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Wall Street Journal

Profit maximization: Jumbo loans now account for nearly one-quarter of mortgage approvals at six of the biggest banks, as the firms seek new strategies for squeezing out more earnings.

Trouble in the shadows: The value of bonds backed by personal, corporate and real-estate loans has fallen drastically in the first half of 2016, raising questions about the health of the securitization market and the larger shadow banking sector.

Executive decision: Robo-advisor Betterment is facing scrutiny for temporarily halting trading on June 24 – when markets tanked after Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Financial Times

Hedging their bets: Employees at the biggest banks have personally donated a combined $1 million to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, compared with just $7,000 for Trump. "I have no earthly idea what Trump would do," said one anonymous banker.

Tough times: Goldman Sachs is telling its asset managers to "tighten their belts." The asset management division is losing funds and its performance is struggling, like others in the industry.

More fallout: Bank of America may call off the sale of its U.K. credit card unit thanks to the upheaval caused by the Brexit vote.

New York Times

Instant gratification: Companies, including some Silicon Valley startups, are testing out payroll cards and ATM services to give workers faster access to their paychecks. In some cases, that means employees can take home wages "as soon as they've earned it" rather than waiting the standard two weeks.

"State-sanctioned loan-sharking": New Jersey's student loan agency has adopted increasingly aggressive tactics to make good on the debt it extends to borrowers, according to an investigation ProPublica conducted with the paper. "It's state-sanctioned loan-sharking," Daniel Frischberg, a bankruptcy lawyer, told the paper.

Beach reads: Andrew Ross Sorkin curates a list of summer releases for business and finance nerds. The American Banker also offers a list.

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