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Libor trial: Rigging widespread, trader told probe | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A former trader accused of Libor rate rigging said market abuse had been rife, a jury has been told. | |
In interviews with investigators, Tom Hayes said brokers in other firms were a "tool" in his "armoury", Southwark Crown Court heard. | |
"It was too widespread and open for people to be completely unaware... It was just so blatant," he had said. | |
Mr Hayes, 35, from Fleet, Hampshire, a former UBS and Citigroup trader, denies eight counts of conspiracy to defraud. | |
He also told the investigators from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) that UBS bosses attended at least one morning meeting in Tokyo, where he was based. | |
The court heard that at the meetings, traders commonly discussed Libor rates, and discussed wanting them set to flatter trading positions. | The court heard that at the meetings, traders commonly discussed Libor rates, and discussed wanting them set to flatter trading positions. |
'Dishonest environment' | |
Mr Hayes told the SFO he was making extra payments to brokers and his network of friends at other banks, in return for information and help. | |
In one extract read out in court, Mr Hayes said: "Yes I admit I was dishonest and was dishonest within an environment that was prevalent among all the banks." | |
Libor - the London Interbank Offered Rate - is an interest rate used by banks around the world to set the price of financial products worth trillions of pounds. | Libor - the London Interbank Offered Rate - is an interest rate used by banks around the world to set the price of financial products worth trillions of pounds. |
Mr Hayes's trading activities were based around movements in the Libor rate. The allegations concern the period 2006 to 2010. | |
The court was told of a co-operation agreement signed by Mr Hayes in April 2013 which could have seen him appear as a witness in the prosecution of other suspects in return for a possible reduced sentence. | |
He was charged in June 2013 and four months later, after he appointed a new legal team, the SFO was informed he was withdrawing from the SOCPA process and would plead not guilty. | |
The trial continues. |
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