Interest Lies

LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) sounds boring. It is just a number. But it is the number that determines the interest rate on $350 trillion of global assets—from your mortgage to student loans to the price of derivatives. For years, the world assumed this number was set by market forces.



In reality, it was set by a group of traders in London chat rooms, trading favors for champagne and sushi. "Interest Lies" details the LIBOR scandal, arguably the biggest financial fraud in history. It reveals how Tom Hayes and a network of brokers ("The Spider Network") manipulated the global economy for tiny personal bonuses, and how the banking system was so broken that cheating became the only way to survive. A story of greed, math, and the terrifying fragility of the global financial system.