In addition to Barclays, about 20 other banks are suspected of having entered incorrect figures into the LIBOR system between 2005 and 2011. In doing so, they may have inflicted losses worth billions on investors, borrowers and other customers, further destroying confidence in their industry.
Financial companies will now have to get used to stricter regulation. The British government wants to largely separate risky investment banking from the rest of the banking sector, and there are similar plans afoot in the United States. Scandals and shrinking profits have made things difficult for financial industry executives. "You can't invest in the shares of investment banks at the moment, because there's constantly so much junk coming to light," says one of the leading analysts for bank stocks.
WestLB and Deutsche Bank are among the banks investigators are targeting. In its most recent quarterly report, Germany's largest financial group states that it is being investigated by several regulatory agencies. The report notes that Deutsche Bank is cooperating with regulators, but that it has no further comment.
"If offences similar to those that apparently occurred at Barclays are uncovered at Deutsche Bank during the course of the investigations, everything will have to be investigated," says Hans-Christoph Hirt of the British shareholder advisory service Hermes. "It would be an opportunity for the new Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner to prove that he takes seriously the concerns that shareholders have clearly articulated."
Read more: Barclays Affair Rocks European Banking Industry - SPIEGEL ONLINE
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