Tom Hayes has industry ban dropped after rate-rigging appeal
The Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday that it would take no further action against Hayes, 45, the first trader ever jailed for interest rate rigging.
The regulator also said that it would end a trading ban it previously imposed on Carlo Palombo, 46, a former Barclays trader who was separately sent to prison in 2019 following a trial for manipulating Euribor, another rate.
Both former traders had their convictions overturned this week.
• Love, Libor and loss: the Kafkaesque ordeal of Tom Hayes
The UK Supreme Court unanimously allowed Hayes's appeal on Wednesday, quashing his 2015 conviction of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud by manipulating Libor, a now-defunct benchmark interest rate.
Hayes, a former star trader at UBS and Citigroup, became the face of the affair when in 2015 he was sentenced to 14 years, reduced to 11 on appeal, after being convicted of rigging Libor. He spent about five and a half years in prison and had fought over the past decade to clear his name. Palombo was sentenced to four years in 2019 for manipulating Euribor and left prison in 2021.
'I always believed that it would happen,' Hayes said after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. 'This wasn't a gamble for me.'
The court quashed the conviction after deciding that the judge who presided over his trial misdirected the jury about a central element of the case. The judge had incorrectly said the jury was not allowed to consider commercial interests in the submissions, the Supreme Court said, and that 'undermined the fairness of the trial'.
The traders argued that they were wrongly prosecuted for what were normal commercial practices in order to appease public anger towards the banking system over the 2008 financial crisis.
The FCA had sought to ban Hayes from trading but the ban was postponed after the regulator was ordered by the Upper Tribunal to stay its move.
The regulator said it was ending action against Hayes and overturning a ban on Palombo because the overturned convictions formed the basis upon which the regulator took its action.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Finextra
24 minutes ago
- Finextra
Fraudster convicted in £1.3m Ponzi scheme following FCA investigation
Daniel Pugh has been found guilty of fraud, following a prosecution by the FCA. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Mr Pugh, aged 35 and of Devon, set up a Ponzi scheme that netted over £1m. Through his fraudulent Imperial Investment Fund (IIF), Mr Pugh took money from 238 investors he targeted largely through Facebook adverts. They were offered impossibly high returns of 1.4% a day, 7% a week or 350% a year. The FCA will commence confiscation proceedings in order to recover the proceeds of crime. Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: 'Mr Pugh deliberately defrauded unsuspecting investors. Fighting financial crime is a priority for the FCA and we are committed to holding fraudsters to account.' Mr Pugh was today found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud. At the start of the trial he pleaded guilty to carrying out unauthorised regulated activity which breached sections 19 and 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. A further individual remains wanted in relation to the same offences.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘The fairest way' or a ‘political disaster'? Readers split on whether Reeves should raise income tax
Independent readers are sharply divided over whether Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves should raise income tax to help fill the £50bn shortfall in the public finances this autumn. Some see it as the fairest option, targeting those most able to pay. 'A penny or two on the rates of income tax might just work wonders,' said one, while others argued it is long past time to align capital gains with income tax rates or reform property taxes. Opponents warn that raising income tax could damage growth and hand political advantage to Reform leader Nigel Farage. 'A rise in income tax across the board would be a political disaster for Labour,' cautioned another. Some prefer alternatives such as VAT, targeted wealth taxes, or cutting waste before hiking any taxes. Several also pressed for bold investment in green infrastructure and small businesses, but all agreed the government must find a credible way to fund public services. Here's what you had the say: What choice does she have? Really, what choice does she have? It is hardly surprising the economy is so sluggish and she has gaps to plug from the effects of a disastrous Brexit (it was: really), a pandemic, and a clueless previous administration, who, to be fair to them, also had limited choices. Among the solutions is to slaughter the sacred cow of putting up income tax. A penny or two on the rates of income tax might just work wonders and could be the fairest way of generating revenue from those best able to contribute towards the public good. DIRKCUTLASS Those with the broadest shoulders As always, the disabled are blamed as the culprits upsetting Reeves' books. The welfare climbdown can only be attributed to £5bn when Reeves' calculations are in the region of £50bn. She and Starmer need to come clean and articulate the hangover of Covid furlough, problems caused by Ukraine and Trump, and put up taxes across the board – such as freezing allowances, increasing income tax and national insurance, equalising capital gains tax with income tax and making it liable for NI, reforming council tax on high-value properties. Starmer and Reeves need to be making sure those with the broadest shoulders bear their fair share of the burden. Kernow What do you think – should Rachel Reeves raise income tax, or find the money elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comments below. VAT is the better option Why income tax? VAT is the much better option as it is a consumption tax. It is easy to adjust for – you raise the tax-free threshold for the poorest in society to compensate. It doesn't affect business significantly. As it taxes consumption, this encourages saving and investment. Kwame Tax unearned income Tax unearned income in line with income tax brackets. This would be worth £16 billion a year. Stop subsidising private companies completely. Apply a void tax to all properties empty for more than six months. Introduce a system whereby renovations etc. are exempt. Some savings ideas – centralise all NHS procurement and HR. Have a locum register for nurses and stop using expensive agencies (same salaries for temp nurses, though). Slightly Tipsy Max Align capital gains tax with income tax Since the wealthy get most of their income from gains, why not align capital gains tax rates to income tax rates, as is done in Australia? That would bring in around £8 billion a year. In addition, replacing council tax and stamp duty with a French-style proportional property tax could generate an additional £3bn–£4bn per year, with even more potential under a land value tax framework. There's plenty of scope for a chancellor and a prime minister who aren't afraid of their own shadows. Pomerol95 Cut waste before raising taxes Still no sign of any reduction in government wasted expenditure – now in the billions each month. No use Starmer looking serious about income tax rises. He refuses to act to curb expenditure or legislate for change! SPCK Political disaster for Labour A rise in income tax across the board would be a political disaster for Labour. Farage would walk into No. 10 on the ticket of 'never believe Labour's promises'. fastyellosaab No changes to basic rate expected The last UK Chancellor to increase the basic rate of income tax was Denis Healey back in 1975. Do not expect any changes to the rate, even though it would actually be the fairest way to raise revenue. Expect tinkering with allowances and other tax measures, which are easier to 'sell' politically. Blackkbeard's host People fear job loss more than a tax rise Really? Does anyone worry like that – that their income tax might go up by 1 per cent or they may have to pay a bit more for petrol? That's not what keeps people awake at night when there are so many worse possibilities, like being made redundant and having no income at all, which could happen to most of us at any time. Chrisw27 Commitment to growth needed Sorry, but what does stabilising the economy mean? Jobs, SMEs, house prices are falling like there's no tomorrow. Extra taxes are not going to make things better. We need a government committed to growth – massive projects to get us a green new economy that will create jobs and prosperity. Support for SMEs to grow faster. Conversations about big hard issues like how do we pay for the NHS in a world of an ageing population, and where the care is going to come from. Instead, we have a continuation of business as usual. I challenge myself to see one policy that is different to what we would have if Rishi were in power. I struggle. Boring75 Taxes rises should have been in the manifesto Good news – there should have been tax rises in the manifesto. You can't have good public services run on fresh air and, after fourteen years of Tory rundown – particularly of the NHS – there is much repairing to do, given that Tory taxes were almost all paid to their mates rather than into public services. Evidence? Just look at the state of the water service and supply 'industry'. Let's see it brought back into public control. rEUjoin High taxes in the 1970s In the 1970s, Labour raised income tax to 83 per cent for top earners; the rest paid 33 per cent or more. Bin men went on strike (like Birmingham today). Doctors wanted more pay. Train drivers struck. Does this start to sound familiar? Karl Hurting the poorest Just like raising employers' NIC was obviously going to impact the poorer working person, so will raising VAT. Wealthier people can afford to pay more; poorer people can't – and it matters not if you take more of their wages or make them pay more for their goods, the result is the same to the poor. Pen2030 Tinkering won't fix deep problems Starmer and Reeves think tweaking things here and there – a few extra billion in taxes, a few billion less in welfare spending – will sort the finances and the UK economy. No. The problems run deep and require more positive actions than Starmer and Reeves are willing to take. So the UK economy will continue to stagnate. More and more voters will lose faith and look elsewhere. ChrisMatthews Why does Starmer not encourage a government efficiency (oxymoron, I know) drive – cutting waste in all departments? Sell off unused government land or buildings. Try to look at other ways of filling holes, PM, before making another U-turn on a promise not to raise taxes. All the other tax increases in place since Labour took over to fill the black hole – where's that increased income gone? Face it, the UK government hasn't got a clue. Chuckiethebrave Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day's top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click 'log in' or 'register' in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Yorkshire chief says Hundred cash can give county a ‘once in a lifetime' chance
Yorkshire's chief executive Sanjay Patel believes the club's cash windfall from the Hundred represents a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' to end years of financial turmoil at Headingley. The White Rose have sold their entire 51 per cent share in Northern Superchargers to the Sun Group, owners of Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, becoming the only one of the eight host counties not to retain a stake. With around £40million coming in as part of that deal, as well as another payment in region of £18m from the England and Wales Cricket Board's central sales pot, Yorkshire are finally in a position to eradicate the onerous £25m debt that has hamstrung the club for a generation. The Hundred may not be universally popular in Yorkshire, a hotbed of cricket tradition, but Patel is clear that the influx of money has helped avert the prospect of oblivion. 'Without this money coming in we were going into administration,' he told the PA news agency. 'Financially, it wasn't sustainable and there's no way of trading your way out of that. We were borrowing money to stay alive and there's only so long you can do that. 'Thankfully this cheque has come along, allowed us to clear our debts, and make sure this club never gets itself into this financial position again. It's amazing news, a once in a lifetime opportunity. 'We can look forward now to doing things that haven't been achievable in the past because of the finances: it's a platform to think about the stadium, the facilities and how we grow cricket in Yorkshire for the next five to 10 years.' Patel is relaxed about being an outlier in selling lock, stock and barrel to outside investors, insisting it remains more of a relationship than a takeover. 'I'd like to think it will still be a partnership, they have a massive affinity to Headingley and are very respectful to the heritage and traditions,' he said. 'India is fanatical about cricket and the closest you get to that in England is right here in Yorkshire. It's in the DNA. If you can have a partnership on a cricket level and be able to say, 'the club should be safe forever if we look after this money', why wouldn't you do it? It seems like a no-brainer.' One change is already in the works, with the Sun Group preparing to bring the team into line with the 'Sunrisers' teams they already have in India and South Africa. After five seasons attempting to foster new allegiances to the Superchargers name, they will need to start afresh in 2026. 'One of the implications of selling if you're going to have different brands. If you're not comfortable with that, don't sell,' concludes Patel. 'Our brand will change and that decision will be made over the next couple of months. What we've got to do is make sure the audience we have for the Superchargers translates to whatever the new brand is.'
