–Adds Detail To Version Transmitted At 1545 GMT

LONDON (MNI) – Jerry del Missier, former Chief Operating Officer at
Barclays, cited a conversation between his then boss and Bank of England
Deputy Governor Paul Tucker as a key link in the chain leading to the
bank submitting “low ball” Libor submissions.

Del Missier said he relayed to the head of the Barclays money
markets a conversation between his boss, CEO Bob Diamond, and Tucker
which del Missier took to mean Barclays should lower its Libor
submissions.

Del Missier, who is giving evidence to the Treasury Select
Committee, has effectively admitted his responsibility for Barclays low
balling of Libor but his evidence also puts the spotlight back on
Tucker.

Giving his account of events back in October 2008 del Missier said
he had spoken to the head of the money markets desk and “I took the
action on the basis of the phone call I had with Mr Diamond the day
before.”

“He (Diamond) said he had had a conversation with Mr Tucker at the
Bank of England that the Bank of England was getting pressure from
Whitehall around Barclays … as a result of Libor rates,” he said.

Asked what he understood was the message arising from the
conversation del Missier said it was “that we should get our Libor rates
down, that we shouldn’t be outliers.”

Del Missier said he believed he was acting under instruction from
the BOE.

“I relayed the contents of the conversation that I had had with Mr.
Diamond and fully expected that the Bank of England’s views would be
incorporated in the Libor submission,” he said.

Asked what we wanted the money markets desk to do with its Libor
submissions, del Missier said “Given that Barclays was high rate I would
have expected that taking that into account would have resulted in lower
submissions.”

In his note of the phone call with Tucker, Diamond says he was told
of concerns about Barclays’ high Libor rates from Whitehall, that is
government, officials.

Del Missier was asked if he thought the instruction to lower Libor
had come from the UK authorities more generally or from the central
bank itself.

“From the Bank of England,” he replied.

Asked where he had told the head of money markets the low balling
instruction had come from, del Missier again replied “from the Bank of
England.”

Diamond in earlier evidence told the Treasury Select Committee del
Missier had misunderstood what he had told him about the Tucker
conversation and Tucker has said Diamond’s note of the conversation was
inaccurate.

“What was communicated to me by Mr Diamond was … about political
pressure on the Bank about Barclays health as indicated by our Libor
rates, and that we should get our Libor rates down and not be outliers,”
del Missier said.

He said there was no inconsistency between his account and the note
of the Tucker conversation made by Diamond. Tucker told the TSC he had
no written record of his conversation with Diamond.

-London newsroom: 00 44 20 7862 7491; e-mail: drobinson@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$B$$$,M$$BE$]