Barometer of Fear - An Insider's Account of Rogue Trading and the Greatest Banking Scandal in History

Labelled a 'rogue trader' after a mismarking scandal, Alexis Stenfors reveals the murky truth about banks and how the rigging of LIBOR - described as 'the biggest banking scandal in history' - and the more recent foreign exchange (FX) scandals are just the tip of the iceberg.

The LIBOR affair has been described as the 'biggestbanking scandal in history', a deception affecting not only banks but alsocorporations, pension funds and ordinary people.



But was this just the tip of the iceberg?Was the scandal the work of a few 'bad apples' or an inevitable result of afinancial system rotten to its core? Labelled 'one of the world's most infamousrogue traders' in the wake of a mis-marking scandal, Alexis Stenfors went on torebuild his life and now guides us through the shadowy world of modern banking,providing an insider's account of the secret practices - including the manipulationof foreign exchange rates - which have allowed banks to profit from systematicdeception. Containing remarkable and often shocking insights derived from hisown experiences in the dealing room, as well as his spectacular fall from graceat Merrill Lynch, Barometer of Fear draws back the curtain toa realm that for too long has remained hidden from public view.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

List of AcronymsIntroduction: "It's a misunderstanding"1.The Barometer of Fear2."Why did you do it?"3.Superheroes and Beauty Pageants4.The LIBOR Illusion5.The Value of Secrets6.Conventions and Conspiracies7.Rotten Apples8.The Perfect StormEndnotesBibliography

Rezension:

'A fascinating insight into the culture of modern banking and the psychology of risk taking on the trading floor.'
John Plender, Financial Times columnist

'A searingly honest account of the activities of traders in the world's global markets, written in an accessible style by a brilliant, but touchingly human trader who found himself at the very vortex of the great financial crisis. Barometer of Fear offers deep insights in to the workings of the machinery that is the global financial system.'
Ann Pettifor, author of The Production of Money and Just Money: How Society Can Break the Despotic Power of Finance

'Stenfors uncovers how unregulated finance operates, or more precisely how traders think. He exposes a system out of control, incapable of self-restraint, nourishing rogue behaviour and ready to burst again at any time.'
Paul Dembinski, Observatoire de la Finance

'[Stenfors] has written a beautifully literate, Jonathan Swift-referencin g book about the dark side of the City and in particular Libor, the London interbank offered rate that was once dubbed the "barometer of fear".'
The Times

'The most shocking element of Stenfors's new book is that it confirms that the economic crisis, which was effectively created by the banks, did very little to make the banks address their bad habits.'
Guardian