More charges on the way for Libor riggers says SFO chief

The City of London, Pic: Alexander Kachkaev

The City of London Pic: Alexander Kachkaev

Charges against more individuals can be expected following the sentencing, on Monday, of former city trader Tom Hayes for Libor interest rate rigging, according to the director of the Serious Fraud Office David Green.

Tom Hayes, 35, of Fleet in Hampshire was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on August 3 of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud for his role in manipulating the libor rate. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a sentence that Green described to the Wall Street Journal as: “Part punishment, part deterrent”.

The court heard that Hayes constructed a network of brokers and traders in 10 of the world’s most powerful financial institutions to rig the Libor rate, persuading and bribing individuals to carry out his instructions for personal financial gain.

A former UBS and Citigroup trader, Hayes is the first individual to be convicted by a jury, of charges of manipulating Libor.

Eleven other individuals are currently facing trial for Libor-related offences and Green told the Wall Street Journal that he plans to bring further charges against other individuals in autumn.

Libor, the ‘London interbank offered rate’ is the average rate of interest charged by banks in London lending to one another. It is used to set the borrowing rates on over $300 trillion (£190 trillion) worth of international financial transactions.

Leave a Reply