By Dominic Elliott

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Settlements by three firms – Barclays, UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland – have each contained disclosures of the culture of the trading floor, via recorded Bloomberg messages. One RBS trader referred to his readiness to raise and lower his requests for the Libor rate as being akin to a “whores drawers”. Another offered to “come over there and make love to you” in return for helpful rate submissions. Yet another quipped: “[It’s] just amazing how libor fixing can make you that much money.”

By Dominic Elliott

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

History rhymes, even in the capital markets. Global issuance in three major asset classes seems to follow a pattern after a financial crisis, Thomson Reuters data shows. And many equities bankers think it’s happening again. First there was a recovery in investment-grade debt. Then junk bonds picked up. If previous cycles are any guide, this year should see a revival in initial public offerings.

By Dominic Elliott

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

A rights issue U-turn would be a bitter bill for Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen to swallow. Deutsche Bank’s co-chief executives vowed in September to strengthen the bank’s finances without tapping shareholders. But U.S. capital rules, non-core losses and a looming Libor settlement have upped the ante.

By Dominic Elliott and Antony Currie

The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own

At least one of the three big bank chief executives to survive the financial crisis could be without a job by the end of 2013. Goldman Sachs’s  Lloyd Blankfein, JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Brady Dougan at Credit Suisse have each suffered setbacks in the past year or more. The two U.S.-based bosses have done a better job of shrugging those off. But Dougan looks vulnerable.

By Dominic Elliott

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

UBS’s Libor shame points to a new concern for financial firms – relationship risk.

By Dominic Elliott

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The $1.5 billion settlement UBS has agreed to pay for rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate is unlikely to end the Swiss bank’s reputational or financial woes. The litany of compliance errors it made over a five-year period paves the way for litigation from other market participants. And clients may also balk at using the bank for Libor business in future, putting UBS’s new strategy for a reduced investment bank under pressure.

By Dominic Elliott
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Deutsche Bank’s co-chief executives are running out of lives. For Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen, December is going to be a month to forget – and the punches just keep on coming. In the last week, Deutsche has warned on its fourth-quarter results, seen offices raided by the police, and been forced to pay damages to representatives of deceased media magnate Leo Kirch. Ahead lies a potentially costly settlement with authorities investigating how banks set Libor. The problems remove any margin for error as Deutsche’s bosses seek to reposition the bank for the post-crisis world.