They had received prison sentences for manipulating interbank rates Libor and Euribor. The British Supreme Court canceled on Wednesday July 23, the conviction of the former traders Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, judging that their trials had been “Inequitable”.
The highest British jurisdiction recognizes that it “There were many evidence” against Mr. Hayes, but points “The judge’s directives” who did not allow his lawyers to defend him properly before the jury, which “Has made the trial inequitable”.
In the case of Mr. Palombo, “The directives given to the jury are not as criticized”but included several “Errors and ambiguities” who make his conviction “Is also unjustified and must be canceled”according to a summary of the decision sent to the press by the Supreme Court.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the British financial crime fighting agency that led the proceedings, decided on Wednesday to stop the procedure, having “Determined that it would not be in the public interest that we ask for a new trial” At this stage, according to a separate press release.
Libor Aboli in 2024
Mr. Hayes, a former trainer of the UBS and Citigroup banks, was found guilty by a jury of the Southwark court in August 2015 and was initially sentenced to fourteen years in prison. He had seen his sentence reduced to eleven on appeal and had benefited from early release in 2021.
The SFO accused him of having orchestrated from September 2006 to September 2010 a system of collusion with traders from the Swiss Bank UBS and the American bank Citigroup, but also with those of other establishments, in order to influence the level of Libor to their advantage.
To defend himself, the ex-coutier had explained at the time that the manipulation of the rate was “Current currency” in the financial industry. His lawyers also argued that he was suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, an autistic disorder.
Mr. Hayes’ file was examined alongside that of a former Barclays trader, Carlo Palombo, sentenced in 2019 to four years in prison for manipulation of the Euribor, the equivalent in Euro of Libor.
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The British Criminal Criminal Affairs Revision Commission had again brought the case to the Court of Appeal after a decision of the American justice in 2022 canceling similar convictions targeting other traders. But the court of appeal had maintained the convictions last year.
Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) has long been a reference interbank rate in the world of finance, having an impact on a huge mass of financial products. Controversial after many scandals, he was definitively abolished last October.