Receiving Wide Coverage ...
More Libor: …And our favorite Libor-related read today comes from Boris Johnson, the delightfully disheveled mayor of London. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Johnson warns, in his inimitable voice, against overreacting to the Barclays scandal, arguing that other industries, such as London’s budding technology firms, need a healthy financial sector to raise capital for them. The Morning Scan cannot resist quoting him at length: “It is time for British politicians to say it loud and clear and in unison: we need bankers, my friends! We need bankers who are not just cautious, owlish Polonius figures. We need bankers who are willing to take punts and put their necks on the line. Yes, by all means arrest anyone who has been involved in a criminal conspiracy to fix Libor. Bang ’em up. Slam ’em away. But we need the political establishment in this country to stop slagging off a sector that is utterly crucial. … We need to maintain or lengthen London’s lead as the best place to raise and allocate that capital, and we won’t succeed in that objective if we keep on bullying, berating and generally beating up anyone who has anything to do with a bank.” If only Johnson’s New York counterpart (and fellow bank defender) Michael Bloomberg were this charming. Johnson also has a funny line in there about corporate sponsorships, which we won’t spoil for you. The comment thread is largely hostile to the mayor’s message, and one of the few Telegraph readers who side with Johnson laments, “Judging from the comments here, the banker bashing politicians have the public mood better than Boris.”
Now that you’ve had your Libor pudding, here’s the meat:
“What's Next to Watch in Libor Drama”: Litigation against banks tops the list. (Wall Street Journal)
“Central Banker Denies Encouraging Barclays to Submit Low Borrowing Costs”: Dispatches from yesterday’s Parliament hearing. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times)
“Libor's Comedy of Errors” — The series of misunderstandings between the Bank of England’s Paul Tucker, former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond and his subordinates, as described in the recent hearings, is starting to sound like a Fawlty Towers episode (“Heard on the Street” in the Journal).
“Diamond to Forgo Deferred Bonuses”: About $31 million worth. What a swell guy! (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
“Barclays CEO Bob Diamond says bank had a ‘no jerks’ rule — how did that go for them?”: The Washington Post’s “On Leadership” column.
Apples to Apples: The CFPB proposed new mortgage disclosure forms, with clearer estimates of closing costs designed to make it easier for consumers to shop around and compare offers from different lenders. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
The CFTC will vote today on a series of contentiously debated rules governing swaps under Dodd-Frank, including the very definition of a swap, the paper reports, citing an anonymous source.
“Heard on the Street” previews JPMorgan’s second-quarter results, due out Friday.
In a letter to the editor, a Denver police officer seconds the claim (made in a lawsuit brought by an obscure bank with a well-known lawyer) that the CFPB has “unchecked authority” in violation of the Constitution.
Financial Times
HSBC executives will testify about anti-money laundering compliance lapses at a hearing next week of Sen. Carl Levin’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. If you’ve seen a Levin hearing before, you know it’s unlikely to be dull.
