An advisory panel set up by Japan's financial regulator will consider stripping oversight for setting Tibor, the yen benchmark interest rate, from the banking group now responsible for its administration, said people with knowledge of the potential supervisory overhaul.
The move would bring oversight of the Tokyo interbank offered rate closer into line with that of Libor, following sweeping reforms of the London benchmark triggered by revelations that major banks had manipulated it to profit from related trades or to misrepresent borrowing costs.
Some in financial markets had raised questions as to whether Tibor had also been manipulated since the rates quoted in Tokyo for 3-month borrowing and those quoted for Libor diverged from 2009 after a decade of moving in near lockstep.
But an investigation by the Japan Bankers Association, which has oversight of Tibor, found no evidence that Tibor benchmarks had been manipulated.
Japan's Financial Services Agency, the country's main financial watchdog, announced this week that it had convened a 12-member advisory panel to study Tibor and other financial indicators. The panel, which is headed by Keio University economics professor Kazuhito Ikeo, will meet for the first time on Thursday and aims to complete its review by March.
One of the proposals the advisory panel will study is whether to shift responsibility for oversight of Tibor from the Japan Bankers Association to the FSA, or another independent body, according to people with knowledge of the preparations.
Source: Reuters
