Libor Review May Impact Oil, Commodity Markets, U.K’s FSA Says

A review of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, will probably have ramifications for the way oil and other commodities are priced, according to the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority.

“The Libor consultation may have implications for other financial benchmarks, including those for oil, gold and other commodity prices, which may eventually be reviewed at a global level,” Martin Wheatley, the managing director of the FSA, said today in a speech at Bloomberg LP’s office in London.

Wheatley, 53, said the FSA is conducting the review after Barclays Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest bank, was fined 290 million pounds ($453 million) by U.S. and U.K. authorities in June for rigging interest rates.

Separately, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, whose members include the FSA, was appointed by the Group of 20 nations in November to undertake an investigation into the way price reporting agencies operate. The group will publish a final report later this year ahead of the next G-20 summit. IOSCO has outlined concerns that oil prices are at risk of manipulation in a preliminary finding.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rupert Rowling in London at rrowling@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net