The London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a synthetic interest rate to which $500 trillion (not billion) worth of contracts was pegged, was found to be subject to manipulation, and was not a robust enough index to play such a significant role in global finance.
The Treasury asked Martin Wheatley, then CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority, to conduct a review of LIBOR, which made a large number of recommendations, including making LIBOR setting a regulated activity. We hired an entirely new team and co-ordinated with the Bank of England to implement all the reforms of LIBOR recommended by the Wheatley Review, while continuing the smooth operation of the index so as not to disrupt financial markets.
We closed down various LIBOR currencies, such as the Canadian Dollar LIBOR, which involved detailed co-ordination with each country’s national bank and financial regulators. Finally, we set up a tendering process to transfer the operation of the reformed LIBOR to a new owner.