Del Missier "passed on Libor orders" Jerry del Missier appeared to contradict the evidence of his boss Bob Diamond on Monday when the ex-chief operating officer of Barclays told MPs that he "passed instructions along" to take actions that would lower the bank's submission to the Libor rate-setting panel. Mr del Missier told the House of Commons Treasury select committee that he believed he was doing what Mr Diamond wanted after they spoke about a conversation the chief executive had with Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank, in October 2008. Mr del Missier said he only acted as he did as a result of his belief that it was proper to do so because he was following the Bank's wishes. His evidence appeared to contradict that of Mr Diamond, who told MPs earlier this month that there had been no instruction from the Bank nor was one passed on to Mr del Missier, while the latter said in his own testimony: "It was an instruction, yes." He denied that at the time of submitting lowered Libor submissions, he thought that it was improper and resisted suggestions by MPs that it was also illegal. But he said that he was not now prepared to disagree with the US justice department that the activity was "improper." It didn't strike me as improper in late October 2008 ... At the time it seemed entirely appropriate. The Bank of England had the expertise. Mr Diamond told the committee in his own evidence that Mr del Missier had misinterpreted his report of the conversation with Mr Tucker, but on Monday, the former Barclays COO said he could not explain how that had happened. The Treasury select committee resumed its investigations into the Libor rate-fixing scandal, questioning Mr Del Missier and senior executives of the Financial Services Authority. Mr del Missier admitted that when he passed on what Mr Tucker told Mr Diamond, "I fully expected the Bank of England's views would be incorporated in the submission ... I would have expected that taking that into account would have resulted in lower rates. The MPs are seeking to get closer to finding out what role Barclays played in trying to fix the London interbank offered rate between 2005 and 2009, and why it took so long for regulators to find out and to stop it. The committee has previously heard from both Mr Diamond and Paul Tucker, now deputy Bank of England governor, about a telephone call in which Mr Tucker asked why Barclays was reporting higher rates than most of its peers. But Barclays and Mr Diamond have said Mr del Missier "misunderstood or miscommunicated" the message, leaving lower-level employees with the view that the Bank had told them to cut their reported rates.