Professor Brian Scott-Quinn answers questions on the social value of high frequency traders on the FT.com

The large fine imposed on RBS last week suggests that a ‘scandal’ took place in the banking world over the setting of LIBOR. Yes – there was probably systematic mis-pricing of LIBOR which enabled some traders and some banks to profit at the expense of others. But the LIBOR issue simply highlights a much wider problem in financial markets which is that many ‘prices’ quoted in markets are not market prices at all. Instead they are prices based on computer models, matrix pricing or sheer guesswork, which may or may not produce ‘accurate’ prices. The reason for using computers models and guesswork is that in many financial products there actually are no transactions at all or very few even over periods of some weeks or months and thus no market prices.

Dr Carol Padgett has won the 2019 University Teaching Fellowship scheme. Hosted by the Centre for Quality Support and Development, the award recognises staff who demonstrate individual excellence in teaching and support of student learning.

Three masters in finance students at the ICMA Centre have been awarded scholarships to take part in a summer exchange program with China’s PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University.