By Jeffrey Sparshott
WASHINGTON--Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Wednesday said the
Bank of England bore responsibility for fixing problems related to
manipulation of a key lending benchmark after U.S. officials raised
concerns.
"Our first instinct was not just to brief the broader U.S. regulatory
community and enforcement agencies, but to bring this to the British,"
Mr. Geithner told a House panel. "And we felt--and I still believe
this--that it was really going to be on them to take responsibility to
fix this."
Lawmakers repeatedly questioned Mr. Geithner on his response to signs
that the London interbank offered rate was being manipulated by banks.
Libor is used to determine the cost of credit around the world.
Mr. Geithner was head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York when
U.S. authorities first became aware of concerns in the spring of 2008.
He said he briefed U.S. regulators and offered a detailed set of
recommendations to the Bank of England that, if adopted, would help
allay concerns.
Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at jeffrey.sparshott@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 25, 2012 10:49 ET (14:49 GMT)
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