Minos Zombanakis, a retired banker, said his office of Manufacturer’s Hanover Bank devised the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) interest calculation in 1969. He said it was specifically designed for an $80 million loan made to Iran under the Shah (photo). Creation of the LIBOR as a way to fix an interest rate averaging rates charged by many banks was a key to opening up financial markets to cross-border transactions that had been restricted ever since 1929, he said. Now LIBOR is under attack as evidence has surfaced that some London banks have manipulated it in recent years to boost their own profits.
