Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any reports from any regulatory or investigative authorities within the United Kingdom or overseas after the Libor affair suggesting manipulation of other benchmarks; and, if so, how many investigations have been opened.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for the investigation of possible misconduct and subsequent enforcement proceedings, including in relation to possible manipulation of benchmarks.

The FCA is operationally independent from Government and it would therefore not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations.

The Government supports the update to the European market abuse framework. Strengthening the framework, and its application across Member States, is important to tackle market abuse effectively across the EU and ensure investor confidence.

The EU Market Abuse Regulation, which was adopted in April 2014, grants competent authorities considerable investigatory powers and will be directly applicable from July 2016.

The UK will not opt into the new EU Criminal Sanctions Market Abuse Directive (CSMAD) but instead update the domestic regime in order to retain flexibility in how it develops its regime in the future. The domestic regime will go at least as far as CSMAD.

In June 2014, the Chancellor announced the Fair & Effective Markets Review jointly led by HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority. The Review is focusing on the wholesale markets where the bulk of concerns about misconduct have arisen. The Government looks forward to the Review’s final recommendations in June 2015.