The demise of over-the-counter trading

It is not really surprising that the US Department of Justice has opened a criminal probe into the setting of Libor rates by banks around the world. It is not really surprising that regulators have shown a remarkable level of collaboration when investigating this, with gumshoes from Japan, the UK and Canada teaming up with their US counterparts to get to the bottom of what has happened. It is not even that surprising that the scandal came to light because of a whistleblower at one of the most beleaguered of the big banks UBS.

What is most surprising is that in today’s world, an interest rate on which by...