Hopefully Ed Balls is screwed - Diamond vs Select cttee

abaxas

Couldn't have happened to a nicer man.

Graham_Devon

At least it's easy to figure out whether he's lying. He'll be grinning like a cheshire cat through every sentence. He does it on every interview.

He's got two faces, serious when telling the truth, grinning like a buffoon when telling a lie.

pqrdef

wotsthat wrote: »

I know if I was looking at the the thick end of a £300m fine I'd be saying, in my defence, that I was acting on the instructions of the BoE, Ed Balls, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Harold Wilson et al.

Wasn't Darling the Chancellor at the time? Balls wasn't at the Treasury when Brown was PM, he was doing schools and children and illegally sacking that woman at Haringey in the Baby P case.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Suppose a code has been broken between the bankers and the politicians, so now it's all out war. Presumably Diamond etc expected to have the government on their side.

What's more surprising to me is that the FSA gave a lower fine for Barclays co-operating with them. Now, yet again, the FSA look stupid as once again, theres a load of stuff missed.

The elephant in the room is that LIBOR has always been a fiddle and everyone knows it. It'll be interesting to see whether we see anyone being accused of instructing Barclays to do this. I doubt it because the main beneficiaries were Barclays traders themselves. I also doubt whether Bob Diamond will lower himself to the level of the tittle tattle that we've seen from the waste of money that is the Leveson enquiry. If there was clear evidence of undue pressure being exterted we'd have seen it already.

Anyone looking for a magic bullet that only takes out Ed Balls might be in for a disappointment.

There will be plenty sweating come 2pm though.

Generali

PaulF81 wrote: »

Turns out that there may have been complicity with the BOE and Barclays into the rigging of LIBOR. The telegraph has described "Senior Treasury Officials" Being involved.

Ed Balls was playing the typical holier than thou in the commons the other day, which is typical of snake-like ministers with blood on their hands.

I just hope that this takes him down. How anyone could vote for a man that is pretty much a snake with 2 arms and legs is beyond me. He sweats pure careerist, Machiavellian evil and deserves his comeuppance if they prove a link between him and rigged LIBOR :beer:

Not a fan then I take it. ;o)

wotsthat

pqrdef wrote: »

Wasn't Darling the Chancellor at the time? Balls wasn't at the Treasury when Brown was PM, he was doing schools and children and illegally sacking that woman at Haringey in the Baby P case.

He was promoted from being economic secretary to the treasury when Gordon Brown became PM according to wikipedia.

What have the facts got to do with it anyway - just look at the photos people have delighted in posting - he's got to be guilty of something.

ash28

wotsthat wrote: »

Anyone looking for a magic bullet that only takes out Ed Balls might be in for a disappointment.

There will be plenty sweating come 2pm though.

You're right.

I don't think Ed Balls will have much to worry about - he had a junior position at the treasury in 2006 - the same one as Chloe Smith who was savaged by Paxman.

I think the current crop might be a bit more concerned than the last lot - Cameron doesn't want a judge led inquiry for good reason I imagine.

One of the biggest party donors, Michael Spencer - was party treasurer until the back end of 2010, whose family trusts own most of IPGL who happen to have an 18% share of Icap (one of the biggest money brokers) who happen to be under investigation by the FSA for rate fixing. Is a personal friend of David Cameron.

I'm sure if I could be bothered to look there will be more.

with his wife and family trusts, are majority shareholders in the private investment company, which has given £806,864 to the Tories over the last five years. IPGL owns 18% of Icap, the FTSE-100 listed interdealer broker that Spencer founded and runs. In addition, Intercapital Private Group, also thought to be a Spencer offshoot, donated £365,000, while BSN Capital Partners, a hedge fund that is an associate company of Icap, gave the Tories £170,000.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/08/tory-donors-financial-services-ipgl

grizzly1911

PaulF81 wrote: »

I just hope that this takes him down. How anyone could vote for a man that is pretty much a snake with 2 arms and legs is beyond me. He sweats pure careerist, Machiavellian evil and deserves his comeuppance if they prove a link between him and rigged LIBOR :beer:

Pretty much like most politicians then, especially those that aspire to high office..

Doubt the current crew would have acted any differently, had they been in power, during the period under investigation.

The_J

wotsthat wrote: »

What I am finding rather surprising is that Barclays have just been landed with a massive fine and yet the 'Barclays insiders' (code for made up quote) didn't think to mention this to the FSA at the time.

10 days profit is a "massive fine"? I think Barclays may have bitten their arm off at the elbow to accept that.

They clearly had been given a nod and a wink suggestion. Hence the publishing of emails where it looked like individual traders being naughty in an effort to pass the buck. This is also why they settled first, they didn't realise the vitriol that would come out of it. In fact, by settling first they were probably the least guilty.

Phlogiston

wotsthat wrote: »

What have the facts got to do with it anyway - just look at the photos people have delighted in posting - he's got to be guilty of something.

Anecdotal I know, but a friend of mine worked in Whitehall for some time and apparently Ed Balls is really, really loathed by the civil service.

Of course that might be a point in his favour depending on your point of view ...