U.K. Will Implement Wheatley Plan for Libor Overhaul in Full

The U.K. government said it will implement “in full” recommendations from Martin Wheatley of the Financial Services Authority to overhaul the setting of the benchmark London interbank offered rate.

The Treasury said in London today that it will enshrine in law the way Libor is set, create a criminal offense for those who misreport it and give regulators the power to oversee the setting of the rate and other financial-industry benchmarks. The British Bankers’ Association, the industry lobby group that compiles Libor, will give way to a new rate-setting panel.