FSA consultation launched 5 December 2012; press release here; consultation document here. The consultation closes on 13 February 2013.
“This Consultation Paper outlines our proposed approach to enacting recent government policy for the regulation of benchmark submission and administration in the future, with LIBOR as the first benchmark to be brought in to the new regime…
The unregulated status of the setting of benchmarks has been called into question recently as the repeated manipulation attempts of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) benchmark have become apparent. One of the key recommendations of the Wheatley Review (an end-to-end review of the LIBOR process) was that, while the setting of LIBOR should remain an industry-led activity, the submission to, and administration of, the rate should be regulated.
We have considered both the Wheatley Review recommendations and the Treasury’s proposed legislative amendments in designing an FCA approach to regulating the setting of benchmarks (and the LIBOR process specifically).
This new approach will revolve around clear and unambiguous rules and guidance laid out in the Market Conduct (MAR) section of our Handbook. These will be subdivided into rules and guidance for each regulated activity. In this CP, we explain both sets of rules and guidance.”
