Big banks that rigged interest rates behaved in "brazen, flagrant" fashion, the head of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission told CNBC on Wednesday, adding that imposing hefty fines were needed as a deterrent to bad behavior.
In the wake of disclosures that Royal Bank of Scotland would be fined $627 million by regulators in the U.K. for global interest-rate rigging, Bart Chilton, the CFTC Commissioner, called for a "culture shift" as part of an effort to rein in improprieties at large financial institutions.
"They were really acting like they were flying above the law in arrogant fashion," Chilton said on "Squawk Box." He said the stiff penalties levied against RBS showed that regulators were serious about cleaning up financial markets.