One of the most worrying aspects of the Barclays settlements with the CFTC, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.K. Financial Services Authority is the acknowledgment that Barclays had attempted as early as 2007 to flag its concern that other banks were low-balling their Libor bids to the U.K. authorities including the Bank of England, the FSA and the British Bankers Association.
First, it would be an acknowledgment that regulators and governments are not in control, and cannot take control, that the major financial firms are still in control and will continue to be.