Egg Libor Was Also Manipulated

- **Libor** (London Interbank Offered Rate) was the benchmark interest rate that banks charged each other for short-term loans, used globally to set rates on mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products. It was administered by the British Bankers' Association until 2014. - From 2005 to 2011, traders at major banks (Barclays, UBS, Deutsche Bank, etc.) were found to have systematically manipulated Libor submissions — reporting artificially low or high rates to profit on derivatives trades or to make their banks look healthier during the 2008 financial crisis. This led to billions in fines, criminal prosecutions, and a loss of trust in financial benchmarks. - The "Egg Libor" refers to a gentler, simplified version of Libor proposed after the scandal, named for an analogy about boiling an egg to a desired hardness — a compromise that critics say preserves the same flawed mechanism for manipulation. - The article argues that despite years of reform efforts and a transition to new benchmark rates (like SOFR in the US), the fundamental vulnerability to manipulation remains, and that the proposed "Egg Libor" is just old wine in a new bottle.