At Barclays, the problems started at the top

The new revelations raise additional ray ban sunglasses sale questions about the future of Mr. Diamond and top management, just days after the bank agreed to pay $450 million to settle the rate manipulation case. Lawmakers will ratchet up the pressure on Wednesday, when the chief executive is scheduled to testify before a British parliamentary committee. David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister, also announced Monday a wide-ranging inquiry into the British banking sector, with the findings to be published by the end of the year. “We need to take action right across the board,” he told Parliament. Regulators in London and Washington are broadly investigating whether big banks manipulated interest rates to their own advantage, aiming to increase profits and fend off questions about their health. Such benchmarks, including the London interbank rayban sunglasses 2012 offered rate, are essential to setting the lending rates for corporations and consumers. At Barclays, the problems started at the top. During the period in question, the bank looked like a winner. After Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, Barclays picked up some of the pieces. And unlike peers, the bank did not have to take government bailout money. But in late 2008, Mr. Diamond, then head of the investment banking unit, informed his deputies that outside officials, including the Bank of England, were concerned Barclays [BCS 10.77 0.47 (+4.56%) ] was reporting high interest rates, a sign of poor health. His top deputies relayed the message to lower-level employees, instructing them to depress the rates, according to people close to the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The actions masked the bank’s true financial position. Jerry del Missier, a rising star in the bank who is now the chief operating officer, was ensnared by the investigation as well, according to the people close to the case. He was briefed on the actions but did not prevent the wrongdoing, the people close to the case said. Two other top executives, Christopher Lucas, the finance director, and Rich Ricci, the investment banking chief, were also involved in the case, the people said. None of the executives has been accused of any wrongdoing. Mr. del Missier was promoted just last month to chief operating officer. And people close to the case say Mr. Diamond never told anyone to submit bogus rates. Instead, Mr. Diamond’s conversation led to cheap makeup online“a miscommunication,” according to regulatory documents. Even so, the four executives forfeited their bonuses last week when Barclays disclosed the settlement with British regulators, the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of the largest regulatory sanctions tied to the crisis. Mr. Diamond, in a letter to employees on Monday, accepted responsibility for the debacle, which has caused a firestorm in London. “I am disappointed because many of these behaviors happened on my watch,” he wrote. Even as Mr. Diamond moved to allay concerns, the case claimed its first casualty after Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, resigned on Monday. While Mr. Agius was not mac eyebrow pencil directly involved in manipulating interest rates, he acknowledged responsibility for the problem.