In 2008, as concerns emerged among regulators that LIBOR—an international interest rate used to set prices on trillions in assets—was being rigged, many were unconcerned. According to a Friday document dump, the Bank of England repeatedly turned down calls for stronger oversight on bankers' role in fixing the rate. On Friday the British Bankers Association issued a blunt statement, heaping blame on the Bank of England and asserting that the nation's chief financial authority had turned down its requests for help monitoring the financial wrongdoing. The scandal exploded into the capital markets earlier this month, when the British bank Barclays admitted to the scam and agreed to pay $450 million in penalties.
