THE SPIDER NETWORK is an excellent examination and account of the Libor scandal from 2006. As someone who didn't fully understand it when it happened, I found David Enrich's book to be a valuable and accessible explainer. It's very well-written and a story very well-told.

Recommended.

You know when you want a book to be good, and you have all the high hopes and then somehow, for you, it isn't?This, is that, for me. I'm sorry.

Not my sort of thing but I heard good things about it. I just didn’t enjoy it. Sorry...

I found this book hard work. I love non-fiction which can fascinate and involve the reader throughout but this failed to do either of those things. There was so much repetition - he fixed libor with this that or the other individual, umpteen phone calls or emails - honestly the first half could have been covered in a third of the time. I was just bored through much of it. The HB editions says 380 odd pages the kindle edition felt like a 1,000. In the end it was Ok overall but not my favourite

I was asked to read and review this book but it's really not my kind of reading material, have tried several times but it doesn't hold my attention. Will keep trying hopefully one day it will click in.

This was a brilliant read, although sometimes difficult to get through it was one that I feel everyone would benefit reading.

David Enrich had unrivalled access to Tom Hayes, and it shows across The Spider Network... perhaps a bit too much, as you can't help to see some bias towards Hayes and how much of a "victim" he was in the LIBOR scandal. Notwithstanding, this is a very very solid book, with unique insights no only to the scandal and the live of Hayes and his cohorts, but also to the wider financial culture post 2008 crisis. And yes... we will never learn. If you are interested on understanding what the LIBOR scandal was, and what repercussions it had on the financial system and the wider world, this book is for you. Very well researched, and very well told. Strongly recommended. 4.5/5.

Who knew a book about the inter bank lending rate (LIBOR) could be so interesting! It reads like a thriller and at times it hard to believe it is a true story. The main character - Hayes - is likeable, sweet and incredibly naive. Or is he? I think the beauty of the book - and the writing - is that even at the end when Hayes is jailed for his part in the rate manipulation, you kind of feel sorry for him. Yes he did "wrong" but within the system set up by the banks and the pressure put on brokers, it was almost impossible not to take advantage of the ability to make more money for your bosses. I also think Hayes was a sacrificial lamb so the banks and "the establishment" could say they'd cleaned house. But the impact on ordinary people and their savings and loans was enormous.

I was give a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

It sounded interesting. It was interesting but so bogged down in minutiae that it became heavy going. It was also not always chronological, which was cousin. However I finished it and learned a lot about Libor and all the shenanigans in the financial world. I only didn't give it five stars because it ended up being quite heavy going.

This is a hard book for me to review as despite the fact it was well written and meticulously researched I disliked the topic and all of the characters in it. I found it 'stogy' to get through and frustrating to the point of shouting at the book on occasion. The arrogance and self-absorbed world of international banking did not surprise me, the lack of interest in the consequences of their actions to anyone other than themselves, and then the fact that so few paid any price for their behaviour left a nasty taste in my mouth. Some elements of the financial process were hard to follow however the quality of the writing shines through the murkiness of the subject matter.

If you liked The Big Short, Flash Boys and Moneyball, you'll love this. It's a gripping yarn told in user-friendly terms (though you will need patience for some pretty complex financial stuff!) It beggars belief how much these guys got away with and how badly a lot of them behaved getting there. No sympathy from me, but interesting to see how the investigation worked.

In Henry James’ The Europeans, a character says this:
If we have ever had any virtue amongst us, we had better keep hold of it now
and the story behind The Spider Network would make you feel the time has come to take that stand.

Just yesterday, ‘two former Barclays traders [were] acquitted by a jury of conspiring to rig Libor, which is used to set interest rates’ – see BBC news story here. This book couldn’t be  more timely.

If you are not in the financial world, and you know anything at all about the Libor scandal, then you probably remember that it was kind of shocking and awful, and you know that traders tried to influence what should have been an objective and important banking rate… and then you fade away and aren’t quite sure of much more. Well that was me, anyway. This book is the perfect antidote – it is a riveting account of the scandal, told through the story of Tom Hayes, the leading figure, a man who is currently serving jailtime.

David Enrich (what a perfect name for a man writing about people who enriched themselves) is very good at explaining the ins and outs of the trading world, and he presents a clear and fair view. He outlines how he came to the story at the end of the book, but it is clear throughout that he had unparalleled access to Hayes and his wife and family, and to texts emails and recordings from the era in which the moneymen were running riot with Libor. He manages to present a very balanced view of Hayes and his activities – it must have been tempting to either condemn him outright, or present some special pleading, but he does neither.

The passage above comes from the beginning of The Spider Network, and goes on to say
The more I dug, the more it seemed that, at least in some ways, Hayes himself was that sucker, the hapless guy positioned to take the fall for an entire industry’s era of anarchic, reckless behaviour.
-and I had my doubts. Really, not Hayes’s fault? And HE was a loser? While I would still take issue with the claim that Hayes was ‘that sucker’ (there were a lot more suckers who lost an awful lot), I did end up feeling sorry for him, and certainly feeling he got a very raw deal.

At the most simple level, he asked others to manipulate a key rate, in order to help his trades and make money. BUT, at that time this was not illegal (because no-one had thought to make it so). So he was charged with conspiracy to defraud – but how come he was the only one taking the rap? A conspiracy of its nature has to be more than one person.

The real shocker, the depressing part of the book, comes in the endless stories of life among the moneymen - the boys’ club, the favours, the turning a blind eye, the corruption and the endless endless money to be made through dubious practices. Hayes has to resign one job because of his activities, but his next employer is told ‘we have no reason to doubt the individual’s honesty and integrity.’ There is a description of ‘switch trades’ – a way of making money for friends, apparently out of nowhere.

About the Libor submissions, Hayes’ view was “Just give the cash desk a Mars bar, and they’ll set [the rate] wherever you want. They are usually staffed by fat people.” Enrich’s verdict is ‘He was kidding, kind of.’ But he doesn’t mean that the cash desk wouldn’t do that: the joke is about the Mars bar.

It does seem apparent that ‘everyone’ was doing it, and ‘everyone’ knew, and Tom Hayes was the one thrown to the lions. He doesn’t sound like a particularly nice man, and he plainly had a high opinion of himself, a lack of concern for the results of his actions, and a very defective moral sense – but he sounds no different from every other character in the book.

About those other characters. One very charming thing about David Enrich is that whenever he introduces a new person he tries to tell you three things that will define him (it is nearly always ‘him’). Here are some of the more splendid examples
… with a bulbous nose and hangdog cheeks, he had a slight resemblance to Kevin Spacey. 

Tall and with muttonchop sideburns, Ewan played the guitar and loved the theatre. 
Brash, cocky and hard of hearing, with his thinning white hair combed straight back, Cotchett had been a Special Forces paratrooper 

The wiry, floppy-haired man, with a fondess for jogging and golf


He also frequently talks about people cycling through offices or cycling through the agency – I was disappointed to realize that this meant that they served time at different desks or offices, not that they rode their bike around the trading floor.

But the charming descriptions shouldn’t let us miss some other vital points. Gary Gensler is chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and is ‘short and skinny with a long pointy nose’. But he also ‘didn’t use a computer’, doesn’t have one in his office. What? How could someone in his position not use a computer? It’s symbolic of the complete lack of rigour, compliance, oversight. People get jobs for political reasons, or because they know the right people, and it is expected that they will not rock the boat, that they will turn a blind eye.

The book is shocking, and depressing, and makes you feel that the whole financial system should be dismantled and restarted, because it is corrupt and broken and wicked. Enrich’s words in the extract above sum it up well.

The book is also very well-written, very compelling, and highly-recommended. It is quite long, and can be somewhat repetitious, but I think that is because Enrich is being scrupulous about laying out his case.

One of Tom Hayes’ favourite authors is Michael Lewis, who also writes so well about financial matters – his book about Daniel Kahneman, The Undoing Project, was on the blog recently.

This is a fascinating in-depth look at the people behind the Libor financial scandal. In particular it examines how Tom Hayes, the only man jailed for his part in the rate-rigging, came to be involved. Hayes, of course, is intent on appealing his sentence, so it remains to be seen if the outcome for him will change.

First up, it's important to note that I didn't know much of anything about trading, derivatives or Libor before I started this book. I'm also one of those readers who flushes out half of all knowledge attained as soon as I finish a book. But I still enjoy the journey for some reason.

Enrich does well to make a difficult subject accessible. I wouldn't say it's an immediately compelling read. It's not a page turner, more of a slow burn of interestingness (I know words, me). There aren't twists and turns so much as a deepening of understanding, a realisation as the book goes on as to how many people were implicated in the scandal and how so many got off completely scot-free.

The author worked closely with Hayes, which I think makes Hayes somewhat sympathetic as a result, but only because you understand him more, not because he's painted as completely innocent.

This is a man who may or may not be on the Asperger's Spectrum (and armchair diagnosis while reading a book would suggest he could be) but very clearly takes the wrong course of action for his own benefit, over and over again, steamrollering over friends and colleagues. I say friends - but of course he didn't have any genuine ones apart from his wife.

Ultimately, it's the tale of a man who determined to earn as much as he could for both himself but also his bosses. His bosses authorised what he did multiple times. Firms fought over this man precisely because of what he did with Libor! He never stopped to think of the consequences but he also never hid what he did, not really. That's why there was so much evidence against him. He thought he was doing his job, because the sector is/was so corrupt that earning as much as you could any way you could, was his job. I don't exactly feel sorry for him, but he is obviously just one piece of the network manipulating Libor.

An enjoyable read, if you like complex stories about sectors you don't fully understand!

Addictive non-fiction that lets the reader take a look into a fascinating, complex scandal that spanned years and involved people right at the top of the banking industry. Enrich tells the story in minute detail, giving a real sense of exactly what was going on, making the most of the brilliant sources he had access to. It is narrative non-fiction, and the scene is set well. It reads so much like a story that I found myself hooked and wanting to know how it was all going to play out.

As well as what was happening with Libor and its variations, there's a strong focus on the banking environment and community, something which I, with no ties to the industry at all, found shocking and utterly engrossing! We get to see how manipulating Libor evolved - from becoming standard practice across many banks, to 'do it but don't talk about', to it completely unravelling and no one wanting to admit they had ever even seen it happen.

I would most strongly recommend The Spider Network to those with some understanding of the financial markets, looking for a more in depth look at what happened from sources right at the heart of it. There is obviously a necessary use of financial terms, all of which are explained, and it can sometimes be name heavy, but it is still accessible to a layperson. I went in with very little knowledge, only to find myself both educated and engaged!

Enrich has collaborated with and interviewed Tom Hayes quite extensively for this book. So it’s not surprising that the book is slightly slanted in his favour, especially when it comes to the mitigating circumstances for his actions.

Readers should note that Hayes launched an appeal against his conviction in January 2017, and his defence is built on the grounds that he believes he did not have a fair trial. In his previous trial the judge wouldn’t allow his Asperger’s diagnosis to be taken into account or presented. His expert witness argues that the Asperger’s syndrome would explain his inability to see his conduct as dishonest or that others could perceive his conduct to be dishonest.

It is also worth noting that Hayes wasn’t diagnosed with Asperger’s until before his trial, so it kind of begs the question whether this is just a convenient excuse and/or basis for his diminished capacity of guilt defence.

Of course the other side of the coin is the fact that Hayes, his colleagues and indeed the entire financial industry functioned and worked in an environment with little or no restrictions or repercussions. Most of the dealings we now consider to be criminal were not considered to be so at the time they began using them. A perfect example of this is insider trading, which was once, not many decades ago. considered to be normal wink wink nudge nudge dealing between traders and brokers.

I think the Spider Network is an inside window into the world of big finance and the insidious nature of those at the top. The Libor rate is an easily manipulated money sucking scam created by rather greedy, but extremely clever men with masses of hypothetical money at their fingertips and no thought to the lives they might, and certainly did, destroy.

It has been noted that there are plenty of sociopaths in the world of big business and finance. They are capable of making ruthless decisions without being hindered by empathy and compassion. They don’t consider the moral implications or the little man at the bottom of the pyramid.

Whilst the story of who, how and what is fascinating it also important to remember all the people who have fallen prey to the Libor rate game of derivatives.

On a side note I would like to add that despite Enrich giving the reader an inkling of who Hayes was and is, especially in regards to his ASD and possible vulnerabilities, the picture isn’t complete. The complexity of the case against him and why he is appealing isn’t delved into as minutely. Enrich does leave one with food for thought though, especially if you think out of the box. Was Hayes really the spinning spider or just part of the silky web, which was considered disposable?
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of The Spider Network*

Riveting narrative of the Libor scandal of a few yearsa ago - bios of the people involved especially the main one Hayes, and a clear setting out of what they all did wrong, and what LIBOR is anyway in straightforward terms what is also clear is the oral turpitude of the participants who forgot wht they were in it for - banking as a money-grubbing activity and cheat-the-other-guy. The author has examined all the figures involved, and the history of the financial product under examination closely - the political ties and the banking culture (up to date - in footnotes there are comments from banks involved that the culture is not as described ... but a wry note from the author contracdicst this0. Obviously the author is not only knowledgeable but clear and up to date, and knows how to write a narrative of all this which is gripping recounting of misdeeds and in some cases incompetence. Important reading as we see banks plunging again into unregulated activity ... excellent read.