British banks and the British Banking Authority (BBA) have been under fire for more than a year for manipulating LIBOR. In an effort to restore credibility to the widely followed interest rate, the BBA announced that the New York Stock Exchange will take over administration of the interest rate next year. The LIBOR is used as a reference rate for more than $550 trillion in derivatives and debt instruments. As the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) derives income from derivative contracts that reference LIBOR and ICE is in the process of completing an acquisition of the NYSE, some have questioned the wisdom of allowing the NYSE to manage the calculation LIBOR.
