????倫敦銀行間同業(yè)拆借利率（London Interbank Offered Rate,，簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)Libor）引發(fā)的利率操縱丑聞成為了近期各大媒體的報(bào)道焦點(diǎn),，新聞標(biāo)題大多含有“調(diào)查”和“改革”等字眼。Libor影響著這個(gè)世界的諸多領(lǐng)域,，范圍涉及從西班牙,、美國(guó)的住宅抵押貸款到倫敦的衍生品合同。

????2008年年初以來(lái),，決策者們承認(rèn)Libor的計(jì)算過(guò)程存在缺陷,。近期，總部位于倫敦的巴克萊銀行（Barclays）基于利率操縱指控達(dá)成的和解案,，證實(shí)了華爾街和金融界很多人一直以來(lái)的懷疑：這里頭可能存在一些腐敗行為,。

????預(yù)計(jì)今年9月央行行長(zhǎng)們將開(kāi)會(huì)商討Libor的未來(lái)。本文將逐一分析眾多政策制定者和投資者們熱議的四大改革或監(jiān)管選擇,。究竟有哪些選擇? Libor能通過(guò)改革解決問(wèn)題,，還是到了非換不可的地步？

1. 將Libor交給政府來(lái)管

????如果將Libor交給銀行管,，留下了人為操縱空間,。或許政府能幫助管好它也說(shuō)不定,？

????目前,，監(jiān)管Libor設(shè)定流程的是私營(yíng)行業(yè)團(tuán)體——英國(guó)銀行家協(xié)會(huì)（British Bankers Association）。美國(guó)聯(lián)邦儲(chǔ)備委員會(huì)（Federal Reserve）主席本?伯南克上周警告稱(chēng),，這個(gè)體系存在結(jié)構(gòu)性缺陷,，歐洲央行（European Central Bank）或許最適合擔(dān)起監(jiān)管Libor監(jiān)管的責(zé)任。

????歐洲央行負(fù)責(zé)設(shè)定Eonia已有時(shí)日,，它是一種幫助控制通脹的隔夜借貸利率,。正如路透社（Reuters）所指出的那樣，與Libor和Euribor不同,，Eonia是基于一組銀行真實(shí)發(fā)生的交易,，而不是給串通留下空間的估算值。當(dāng)然,，巴克萊和解案涉及更多的政府監(jiān)管,。除了要求巴克萊基于市價(jià)（而非估算借貸成本）提交Libor利率，和解案還要求未來(lái)五年設(shè)立獨(dú)立審計(jì)人,，審查巴克萊提交的利率,，并匯報(bào)給美國(guó)商品期貨交易委員會(huì)（Commodity Futures Trading Commission）,。

????但即便政府在監(jiān)督Libor中扮演更積極的角色，可能仍然無(wú)法解決Libor體系的問(wèn)題,。正如《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》（The New York Times）所指,， Libor似乎天然功能失靈。即便Libor利率建立在真實(shí)的交易基礎(chǔ)之上,，這些交易并不容易獲得,，因?yàn)榻陙?lái)很多銀行已不愿互相借貸。

????而且,，前車(chē)之鑒表明,，并不能確定政府能提供多大幫助。正如上周公布的一系列文件顯示,，2008年,，美國(guó)財(cái)政部長(zhǎng)、時(shí)任紐約聯(lián)邦儲(chǔ)備銀行行長(zhǎng)蒂莫西?蓋特納在從交易員處聽(tīng)說(shuō)一些銀行故意低報(bào)每日利率后,，已經(jīng)敦促英國(guó)銀行（Bank of England）改革L(fēng)ibor,。但是迄今為止，改革顯然還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠,。

2. 將Libor交給市場(chǎng)來(lái)管

????既然政策制定者們認(rèn)為L(zhǎng)ibor存在內(nèi)在缺陷,，為什么干脆取消這一基準(zhǔn)利率？

????巴克萊和解案暴露出了Libor事實(shí)上源于估算,、而不是真實(shí)的市場(chǎng)數(shù)據(jù)這一事實(shí),。除此之外，最終Libor的計(jì)算方法也有缺陷,，因?yàn)榉N種跡象顯示,，銀行間基本上已經(jīng)停止了互相借貸的行為。

????伯南克和全球金融穩(wěn)定委員會(huì)主席,、加拿大銀行（Bank of Canada）行長(zhǎng)馬克?卡尼建議改用回購(gòu)利率，這是很多金融機(jī)構(gòu)互相收取的短期貸款利率,。

????此類(lèi)利率的好處是它們是基于真實(shí)的市場(chǎng)交易,。而且，據(jù)報(bào)道,，有些銀行已經(jīng)在測(cè)試一個(gè)與回購(gòu)協(xié)議市場(chǎng)聯(lián)動(dòng)的利率,。

????不過(guò)，正如伯南克等人指出的那樣,，Libor作為市場(chǎng)基準(zhǔn)很難取代,，因?yàn)橥顿Y者已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了Libor（1986年以來(lái)Libor一直被廣為應(yīng)用)。雖然回購(gòu)利率被認(rèn)為能更準(zhǔn)確地反映借貸成本,，但事實(shí)可能并非如此,，正如《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》（The Wall Street Journal ）所述,，回購(gòu)利率擁有美國(guó)國(guó)債等抵押資產(chǎn)，因此比Libor市場(chǎng)中的貸款風(fēng)險(xiǎn)低很多,。

3. 采用拍賣(mài)式

????正如《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家》（The Economist）最近所指,，Libor計(jì)算過(guò)程中存在的很多問(wèn)題同樣也存在于拍賣(mài)過(guò)程中。因此,，或許可以運(yùn)用拍賣(mài)的一些遏制機(jī)制來(lái)彌補(bǔ)Libor的缺陷,。

????人們指責(zé)交易員們?cè)谔峤籐ibor利率時(shí)互相勾結(jié)。盡管英國(guó)銀行家協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)公布各家銀行的估算值,，但卻于事無(wú)補(bǔ)——因?yàn)槿绻灰讍T能看到他人的報(bào)價(jià),，要想影響最終利率就更容易了。這類(lèi)似于拍賣(mài)環(huán)節(jié)的競(jìng)標(biāo)團(tuán)伙（bidding rings）,。

????為了整頓Libor報(bào)價(jià),，英國(guó)銀行家協(xié)會(huì)可以懲治給出失實(shí)數(shù)據(jù)的交易員，就像拍賣(mài)會(huì)懲罰不實(shí)出價(jià)者一樣,。而且,，為了提高準(zhǔn)確率，英國(guó)銀行家協(xié)會(huì)可以增加上報(bào)利率的銀行數(shù)量,，將相關(guān)信息保密,。

????Investigations and talk of reform are dominating the headlines about the rate-fixing scandal tied to the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor. The interest rate influences many aspects of the world we live in, from Spanish and U.S. mortgages to derivatives contracts in London.

????Since as early as 2008, policymakers have acknowledged the process by which Libor is calculated is imperfect. And London-based Barclays' recent settlement over interest rate manipulation has confirmed what many of us had suspected on Wall Street and the rest of the finance world: Something corrupt could be going on.

????In September, central bankers are expected to gather for a meeting on the possible future of Libor. Fortune takes a look at four fixes that many policymakers and investors are talking about. What are the options – could Libor be reformed, or should it be replaced?

????1. Leave it to the government

????If leaving it to the banks has left Libor exposed to manipulation, might the government help clean things up?

????Currently, the British Bankers Association, a private industry group, oversees the process by which Libor is set. But U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned last week that the system is structurally flawed, so the European Central Bank could be best positioned to police Libor.

????The ECB already sets Eonia, an overnight lending rate that helps control inflation. As Reuters notes, unlike Libor and Euribor, Eonia is based on actual transactions by a panel of banks rather than estimates that leave the rate exposed to collusion. To be sure, the Barclays settlement includes more government oversight of the bank. It not only orders the bank to base its Libor submissions on market prices rather than estimates of borrowing costs, but the settlement also calls an independent auditor to scrutinize its submissions for the next five years and report back to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

????But even if government plays a more active role monitoring Libor, it still might not solve the problems of the system. As The New York Times notes, Libor seems inherently dysfunctional. Even if the rate were based on actual transactions, those aren't easy to come by, as many banks in recent years have been reluctant to lend to each other.

????What's more, judging by previous warnings, it's uncertain how helpful government would be. As a slew of documents released last week revealed, in 2008, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then head of the New York Fed, pushed the Bank of England to reform Libor after hearing from traders that bankers were deliberately understating the daily rates. Needless to say, reforms didn't go far enough.

????2. Leave it to the markets

????As policymakers argue that Libor is inherently imperfect, might it be better just to do away with the benchmark altogether?

????Not only has the Barclays settlement exposed the fact that Libor is derived from estimates rather than real market data, but the way the final rate is calculated is further flawed by evidence that banks have mostly stopped lending to each other.

????Bernanke and global financial regulator Mark Carney, who is also governor of the Bank of Canada, have suggested the idea of using repo rates, the rate that financial institutions charge each other for short-term loans.

????The benefit of such rates is that they're based on actual market transactions. And some banks have reportedly been testing a rate linked to the market for repurchase agreements.

????However, as Bernanke and others have noted, Libor will be difficult to replace as a market benchmark simply because investors are so accustomed to it (Libor has been around since 1986). And while repo rates are thought to provide more accurate borrowing costs, that may be less so given, as The Wall Street Journal notes, that collateral such as Treasuries are used and therefore are less risky than loans in the Libor market.

????3. Go auction-style

????Many of the problems in calculating Libor are also evident in auctions, as The Economist recently pointed out. And so it might make sense to apply some of the checks that go on at auctions to correct flaws in Libor.

????Traders have been accused of colluding when coming up with the benchmark. This isn't helped by the fact that the BBA makes individual estimates public and so it's relatively easy for traders to peek at what others have done to influence the final rate. This is similar to those of bidding rings formed at auctions.

????To help clean up Libor, the BBA could penalize traders giving false estimates, just as auctions have penalized those giving false bids. What's more, to increase chances of accuracy, the trade group could increase the number of banks reporting rates and keep those private.