When Anthony Browne accepted the job of Chief Executive Officerof the British Bankers' Association in June, it had responsibilityfor the world's most important benchmark interest rate. Followingthe Libor-rigging scandal, it is likely to be little more than justanother lobby group.

Regulators and lawmakers are weighing whether to strip the lobbygroup of its role overseeing the setting of Libor, the referencefor more than $500 trillion of securities, after a worldwide probeinto at least a dozen banks showed some had tried to rig the rate.U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Bank of Englandhave both faulted the BBA for failing to fix Libor in 2008 when theBank for International Settlements first raised concern that thebenchmark was being manipulated.

“They haven't handled themselves at all well, in particular onLibor but also on a lot of wider banking issues,” said IsmailErturk, a banking lecturer at Manchester Business School. “The BBAisn't up to the job of defending or promoting London's position asa financial center.”