Am I the only one that thinks all this fuss about LIBOR fixing is strange? Granted it was illegal and was an example of bank corruption, insider trading and so on, but it's been a long time since there was anything with even a faint resemblance to a free market in interest rates, and numerous practices that might once have been considered corrupt and dishonest have long since moved into the banking mainstream. Anyone waiting for the wave of prosecutions that should have followed the subprime fiasco has been waiting a while, and when the banks involved say that they thought that what they were doing had the tacit approval of regulators, that does at least seem possible.
Also the fixing of LIBOR has been blatant for years. I've read about it quite a few times as I recall. Is it really possible that the regulators just noticed? Granted they've won no awards for clear vision in the past, and one could be forgiven for wondering whether they need assistance to dress themselves in the morning, but it does seem hard to believe.
