Barclays facing downgrade

Two leading credit rating agencies took steps toward downgrading Barclays in the wake of a trading scandal while Britain's House of Commons deputies engaged in a noisy and bitter debate yesterday ahead of a vote on how to investigate the banking industry in the wake of an interest rate manipulation scandal at Barclays. The resignation of three senior Barclays executives, including CEO Bob Diamond, followed the scandal leading to both Moody's and Standard & Poor's lowering their outlooks. Though they maintained the ratings on the bank, their outlooks have been reduced to "negative" from "stable." That means that a downgrade of the actual rating is now more likely. Barclays got some respite when Fitch Ratings said its view was unaltered by the scandal and resignations. All three ratings agencies indicated that they were watching developments including parliamentary hearings on the scam. Meanwhile, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking approval for his plan for what he calls a "swift and decisive" investigation to be carried out by a panel of lawmakers and wrapped up by the end of the year, according to The Associated Press. However, opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has accused Cameron of failing to understand the depth of public concern and called for a longer judge-led inquiry, though he has suggested this could follow the shorter probe. Parliament has been stirred into action by the rate-setting scandal disclosed last week that cost Barclays bank $435 million in fines and has added fuel to public anger at the banking industry. from arab news.