What with the collapse of the leveraged loan market, introduction of Basel II, increased pressure on balance sheets, the rising cost of capital and the increased cost of funding, difficulties with the accuracy of Libor – the London interbank offered rate – is a problem the banks can do without.

Participants in the syndicated loan market, for example, complain that the actual cost of fund rates borne by a lender are substantially higher than that implied by the screen-based Libor fixing. Variances have occurred before, by as much as 10 basis points, but these are now greater and the period of such difference longer.