Re: Request To Manipulate Libor, Ex-Rabobank Trader Didn't Mean "No worries mate, glad to help" In, Like, A Literal Sense
Oh god, you thought he was serious?
Anthony Allen, the London-based former head of global liquidity and finance at Rabobank, said that when he had sent email or text replies appearing to agree to traders’ demands for higher or lower Libor submissions, he was actually trying to push back or brush them off. In one striking instance, when a trader asked Mr. Allen on Dec. 1, 2006, for a “high” three-month Libor submission, Mr. Allen used colorful language to observe that he was “fast turning into” the other trader’s Libor slave, and soon added, “No worries mate, glad to help.” Explaining the reply, Mr. Allen said he was trying to signal to the trader that his request, which followed a similar entreaty from the same trader two days earlier, was out of line. “In my way, I’ve pushed back on him,” Mr. Allen said. “I was telling him,” he added, “it’s just not right.”
Top Defendant Testifies in First Libor Criminal Trial in U.S. [Dealbook]