MPs question ex-Barclays boss over Libor

A former Barclays director at the heart of the rate-fixing scandal was being questioned by MPs today.

Canadian Jerry del Missier resigned as Barclays’s chief operating officer two weeks ago. He is said to have misunderstood a note in 2008 of a talk between former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond and Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker as an instruction to lower submissions for Libor — the London interbank lending rate.

Barclays staff “lowballed” the rates they put in at the height of the financial crisis. Senior Whitehall figures had raised concerns with Mr Tucker about the high Libor submissions, which were sparking questions over the bank’s financial health. Mr del Missier was appearing before the Commons Treasury Committee, which has recalled Mr Diamond to give evidence amid claims from some MPs that he misled them.