Is Barclays suffering from a first-mover disadvantage as a result of being the first bank to co-operate with regulators investigating the manipulation of a key lending rate? Or does the bank have an ingrained culture of pushing the rules? The reputation of Barclays now hinges on the answers to these questions.

The culture and business practices at Barclays have faced unprecedented scrutiny in the past two weeks. In a testimony before the Treasury Select Committee, Bob Diamond, the bank's former chief executive, said he was worried Barclays was being "isolated" in the furore over the fixing of the London interbank offered rate. His clear inference: Barclays was not the only one to bend the rules.