Drip-drip Libor shame beats an industry settlement

``Collective agreements like this sometimes help industries iron out future civil suits. Tobacco companies, for example, have benefited in the past from sticking together. But it's not clear that it would achieve much in the case of Libor, given the relatively victimless nature of the crime in individual financial terms. The main benefit of an industry-wide agreement would simply be to end the embarrassment.''