Washington Post calls out Deputy BoE Governor

Tucker…pants on fire have been edited out to protect the guilty.

The Post’s lead story this morning asserts as follows:

‘While president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy F. Geithner pressed British regulators to reform the way a critical global benchmark called the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, is calculated, according to a June 1, 2008, e-mail obtained by The Washington Post. Writing to the head of the Bank of England, among others, Geithner made six recommendations, which included eliminating incentives that could encourage banks to manipulate the rate and establishing a “credible reporting procedure.”

So much for Paul Tucker’s St Paulesque revelatory conversion of two months ago. Three days ago I posted this, arguing that ‘anyone with a brain’ now knew the scam was both well-established, known about, and global. After the Tucker evidence I posted again to say ‘yesterday’s Tucker Treat was simply unbelievable’. Now the Post’s well-crafted, sourced and fully-documented piece confirms it.

And there will be more to come today: The New York Fed that Timmy led between until 2008 is to publish ‘dozens of implicatory documents’ this afternoon GMT. Says my trusty New York source, “We’re talking trillions of dollars in money rates here. I hear that several of the papers, emails and letters show conclusively that Geithner’s Fed knew about Libor dishonesty by 2007 at the latest.”

The Post also says something similar towards the end of its story. Added to the Slog’s Iswap piece about interbank derivates recently, what we are witnessing here (as I’ve said all along) is the fixing of markets – to the general disadvantage of innocent investors – across the piece and over many years.

If Gordon Brown ridiculously suggested that he’d saved the world, will Conservative Camerlot now be fingered by the Americans as the home of all things amoral in the banking business? Dave needs to think about this. But my Cabinet contact – obviously having decided I am The Enemy – has switched off the Mole Machine. Guilty conscience, perhaps….

June 28th: How The Slog first suggested the can of worms would open