Latest news with #SeriousFraudOffice
ABC News
36 minutes ago
- Business
- ABC News
Top UK court quashes ex-bankers' Libor rate rigging convictions
The UK Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of two former financial traders jailed for manipulating the Libor interest rate benchmark. In a written judgment, the UK's highest court said that due to errors in the way the jury had been directed the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo were "unsafe and cannot stand". Manipulation of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) and its European equivalent Euribor occurred in the run-up to and following the 2008 global financial crisis. The international scandal it created led to prison sentences and massive fines for major banks. The Libor was long a benchmark inter-bank rate in the financial world, impacting an enormous range of financial products in Britain and beyond, before being abolished at the end of last year following numerous scandals. The Serious Fraud Office, which brought the original case against Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo, said it would not seek a retrial. Mr Hayes, a former Citigroup and UBS trader, had been found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud Libor between 2006 and 2010. He spent five-and-a-half years in prison before his release in January 2021. Mr Palombo, a former trader at Barclays bank, was sentenced to four years in prison for rigging Euribor. Their cases were taken to the UK's top court after the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals last year. The Supreme Court noted that there was "ample evidence" against Hayes which could have led a jury to find him guilty "if properly directed". However in both cases there were "errors and ambiguities" in the way the jury was directed, which led the top court to conclude the trials were unfair. Libor, once a key benchmark for global finance, underpinned around $US400 trillion ($606.8 trillion) in contracts, from mortgages to student loans. Managed by the former British Bankers' Association, it was based on daily estimates from a panel of banks on how much they expected to pay to borrow from each other. The rate was phased out in 2023. The Libor scandal led to more than $US9 billion in fines for banks and brokers worldwide, including the convictions of 19 traders in Britain and the United States. Mr Hayes challenged his conviction following a landmark US court decision in 2022 that overturned the Libor rigging convictions. Caroline Greenwell, a partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, said the judgment would now bring Britain in line with the United States. "This result not only clears Mr Hayes' and Mr Palombo's names, but could also lead to convictions secured in nine other criminal trials prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office... being reviewed," she said. The SFO brought charges against 20 individuals between 2013 and 2019, securing convictions against nine — seven at trial and two through guilty pleas — while 11 were acquitted. AFP/Reuters
Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Tom Hayes wins fight to overturn Libor-rigging conviction
Tom Hayes has won his decade-long fight to overturn his conviction for Libor-rigging with a landmark Supreme Court ruling that deals a significant blow to the Serious Fraud Office. Hayes, a former star trader for UBS and Citigroup, in 2015 became the first person in the world to be convicted by a jury of manipulating Libor, which was the world's most widely-used interest rate benchmark, and spent about five and a half years in prison. However, the UK's highest court ruled on Wednesday that the jury ten years ago was misdirected by the judge, Mr Justice Cooke, and that this 'undermined the fairness of the trial'. Carlo Palombo, an ex Barclays trader who separately was sent to prison in 2019 for manipulating Euribor, a similar rate to Libor, has also had his conviction quashed on similar grounds. Both were originally convicted of conspiracy to defraud.
South Wales Argus
14 hours ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Supreme Court to rule on cases of traders jailed over rate-rigging
Tom Hayes, a former Citigroup and UBS trader, was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010. He is challenging his conviction, as is Carlo Palombo, an ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank, who was found guilty of conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) submissions between 2005 and 2009. The Court of Appeal dismissed appeals from both men in March last year. They then took their cases to the Supreme Court. The Serious Fraud Office opposed the men's appeals (Alamy/PA) The panel of five justices was also asked to look at whether the cheapest rate needs to be submitted, or if it can be one selected from a range of potential borrowing rates. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opposed the appeals. Supreme Court president Lord Reed, Lords Hodge, Lloyd-Jones and Leggatt, and Lady Simler are expected to hand down their judgment at 9.30am on Wednesday. At a hearing in March, lawyers for the men said the trial judge had wrongly directed the jury, and injected 'confusion' into their cases. Adrian Darbishire KC, for Hayes, told the court that there was a 'marked failure to respect the limits of the role of a judge in a jury trial', adding that 'part of the point of juries is that they are not judges – they are representative of society', and their views are sought in 'preference' to that of a judge. In written submissions, Tim Owen KC, for Palombo, said the trial judge's directions to the jury 'failed to identify the correct issue for the jury' and 'injected confusion into the terms of the indictment'. Mr Owen said dishonesty was a 'question of fact for the jury to assess', and not 'a matter to be shaped by legal directions'. In written submissions Sir James Eadie KC, representing the SFO, said the issues identified in Hayes's case go 'far beyond the issues arising from the certified questions', and that his case 'repeatedly mischaracterises the indicted offence'. He said: 'If as a matter of law the Libor definition does not permit trading advantage to be taken into account, it is still necessary for the prosecution to prove and the jury to find that the defendant acted dishonestly in making the submission. 'In this case it is clear that the issue of dishonesty was left to the jury.' The Libor rate was previously used as a reference point around the world for setting millions of pounds worth of financial deals, including car loans and mortgages. It was an interest rate average calculated from figures submitted by a panel of leading banks in London, with each one reporting what it would be charged were it to borrow from other institutions. Hayes, who has maintained his innocence, spent five and a half years in prison and was released in January 2021. Palombo had denied acting dishonestly but was jailed for four years in April 2019 after a retrial.
Glasgow Times
14 hours ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Supreme Court to rule on cases of traders jailed over rate-rigging
Tom Hayes, a former Citigroup and UBS trader, was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010. He is challenging his conviction, as is Carlo Palombo, an ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank, who was found guilty of conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) submissions between 2005 and 2009. The Court of Appeal dismissed appeals from both men in March last year. They then took their cases to the Supreme Court. The Serious Fraud Office opposed the men's appeals (Alamy/PA) The panel of five justices was also asked to look at whether the cheapest rate needs to be submitted, or if it can be one selected from a range of potential borrowing rates. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opposed the appeals. Supreme Court president Lord Reed, Lords Hodge, Lloyd-Jones and Leggatt, and Lady Simler are expected to hand down their judgment at 9.30am on Wednesday. At a hearing in March, lawyers for the men said the trial judge had wrongly directed the jury, and injected 'confusion' into their cases. Adrian Darbishire KC, for Hayes, told the court that there was a 'marked failure to respect the limits of the role of a judge in a jury trial', adding that 'part of the point of juries is that they are not judges – they are representative of society', and their views are sought in 'preference' to that of a judge. In written submissions, Tim Owen KC, for Palombo, said the trial judge's directions to the jury 'failed to identify the correct issue for the jury' and 'injected confusion into the terms of the indictment'. Mr Owen said dishonesty was a 'question of fact for the jury to assess', and not 'a matter to be shaped by legal directions'. In written submissions Sir James Eadie KC, representing the SFO, said the issues identified in Hayes's case go 'far beyond the issues arising from the certified questions', and that his case 'repeatedly mischaracterises the indicted offence'. He said: 'If as a matter of law the Libor definition does not permit trading advantage to be taken into account, it is still necessary for the prosecution to prove and the jury to find that the defendant acted dishonestly in making the submission. 'In this case it is clear that the issue of dishonesty was left to the jury.' The Libor rate was previously used as a reference point around the world for setting millions of pounds worth of financial deals, including car loans and mortgages. It was an interest rate average calculated from figures submitted by a panel of leading banks in London, with each one reporting what it would be charged were it to borrow from other institutions. Hayes, who has maintained his innocence, spent five and a half years in prison and was released in January 2021. Palombo had denied acting dishonestly but was jailed for four years in April 2019 after a retrial.
The Herald Scotland
15 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Supreme Court to rule on cases of traders jailed over rate-rigging
He is challenging his conviction, as is Carlo Palombo, an ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank, who was found guilty of conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) submissions between 2005 and 2009. The Court of Appeal dismissed appeals from both men in March last year. They then took their cases to the Supreme Court. The Serious Fraud Office opposed the men's appeals (Alamy/PA) The panel of five justices was also asked to look at whether the cheapest rate needs to be submitted, or if it can be one selected from a range of potential borrowing rates. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opposed the appeals. Supreme Court president Lord Reed, Lords Hodge, Lloyd-Jones and Leggatt, and Lady Simler are expected to hand down their judgment at 9.30am on Wednesday. At a hearing in March, lawyers for the men said the trial judge had wrongly directed the jury, and injected 'confusion' into their cases. Adrian Darbishire KC, for Hayes, told the court that there was a 'marked failure to respect the limits of the role of a judge in a jury trial', adding that 'part of the point of juries is that they are not judges – they are representative of society', and their views are sought in 'preference' to that of a judge. In written submissions, Tim Owen KC, for Palombo, said the trial judge's directions to the jury 'failed to identify the correct issue for the jury' and 'injected confusion into the terms of the indictment'. Mr Owen said dishonesty was a 'question of fact for the jury to assess', and not 'a matter to be shaped by legal directions'. In written submissions Sir James Eadie KC, representing the SFO, said the issues identified in Hayes's case go 'far beyond the issues arising from the certified questions', and that his case 'repeatedly mischaracterises the indicted offence'. He said: 'If as a matter of law the Libor definition does not permit trading advantage to be taken into account, it is still necessary for the prosecution to prove and the jury to find that the defendant acted dishonestly in making the submission. 'In this case it is clear that the issue of dishonesty was left to the jury.' The Libor rate was previously used as a reference point around the world for setting millions of pounds worth of financial deals, including car loans and mortgages. It was an interest rate average calculated from figures submitted by a panel of leading banks in London, with each one reporting what it would be charged were it to borrow from other institutions. Hayes, who has maintained his innocence, spent five and a half years in prison and was released in January 2021. Palombo had denied acting dishonestly but was jailed for four years in April 2019 after a retrial.
