Barclays Backs Libor Based on Transactions Rather Than Estimates

Barclays Plc, which paid about $450 million as the first bank to settle in a worldwide probe of interest-rate rigging, said benchmarks should be tied to actual market transactions and not estimates.

Overseers of financial benchmarks should have limited or no discretion to set levels, Barclays said in a letter released yesterday by the International Organization of Securities Commissions. The letter, dated Feb. 11, was a response to IOSCO’s January request for comments on possible measures to overhaul the setting and governance of such benchmarks.