By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writers
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says he acted quickly and appropriately to deal with problems in a key global interest rate once he realized the rate-setting process was flawed.
Geithner, who was then head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, sent a memo in 2008 to British banking authorities outlining his concerns about possible manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR).
Geithner also says he alerted U.S. regulators, during an interview Wednesday with CNBC.
"We did the right and necessary things. We did it right and we did it early," Geithner says.
The LIBOR affects the interest on many loans. The process for setting LIBOR has come under scrutiny since Britain's Barclays bank admitted two weeks ago that it had submitted false information to keep the rate low.