News — Competition

The London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), which was introduced in 1984 by the British Bankers Association (BBA), provides a benchmark rate for inter-bank lending, and which is used to set other short-term rates.

Libor is based on a daily calculation of the average rate at which banks can borrow from each other in various currencies and for various maturities in the London interbank market. The increasing significance of the Libor rate reflects London’s growing importance as a global financial centre. 

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced its plans to create a new competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which will replace the Competition Commission as well as take over the all competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT.