UK to launch bank inquiry after rate-rigging scandal

British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a full parliamentary inquiry into the interest rate rigging scandal that has claimed the job of Barclays Bank chairman Marcus Agius. "I want to establish a full parliamentary inquiry involving both houses, chaired by the chairman of the Commons Treasury Select Committee," Cameron told the Parliament last night. He said people "want to see bankers who acted improperly punished, and they want to know we will learn the broader lessons of what happened in this particular scandal". "This committee will be able to take evidence under oath, it will have full access to papers and officials and ministers including ministers and special advisers from the last government," he added. The announcement came hours after Agius resigned over revelations that Barclays traders had lied about the interest rates other banks were charging it for loans. Britain's Serious Fraud Office said on Monday it is considering whether it was "both appropriate and possible to bring criminal prosecutions" over the issue, adding that it hoped to come to a conclusion within a month. The parliamentary inquiry should report on its findings by the end of this year to allow the government to change laws and prevent a repeat of the interest rate fixing scandal, British finance minister George Osborne said. Martin Wheatley, the Chief Executive designate of the Financial Conduct Authority would review what reforms are required to the current framework for setting and governing LIBOR and report by the end of summer, Osborne said.