Few mechanisms underpin financial markets to the same extent as benchmarks. But responses to a wide-ranging Bank of England review of fixed income, currency and commodity markets reveal a strong sense that something is not quite right with them.

The Fair and Effective Markets Review was formed in response to a series of scandals that have rocked the FICC markets in recent years, including the manipulation of popular benchmarks such as the London Interbank Offered Rate and the 4 PM fix, a price for foreign exchange rates calculated daily in London by World Markets and Reuters.