New York Fed says it knew of Barclays Libor “problems” (Bloomberg)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York says it was aware of potential issues involving Barclays Plc and the London interbank offered rate after the financial crisis began in 2007. “In the context of our market monitoring following the onset of the financial crisis in late 2007 … we received occasional anecdotal reports from Barclays of problems with Libor,” New York Fed spokeswoman Andrea Priest said in an emailed statement. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, said the committee has begun to schedule briefings “with relevant parties to learn more about these allegations and related enforcement actions.” Johnson added that he is asking Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to “be prepared to answer Senators’ questions on this matter” at upcoming hearings.