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Trader jailed for 14 years over Libor rate-rigging | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Former City trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty at a London court of rigging global Libor interest rates. | Former City trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty at a London court of rigging global Libor interest rates. |
He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud. | |
The 35-year old is the first individual to face a jury trial for manipulating the rate, which is used as a benchmark for trillions of pounds of global borrowing and lending. | |
Many of the world's leading banks have paid heavy financial penalties for tampering with the key benchmark. | Many of the world's leading banks have paid heavy financial penalties for tampering with the key benchmark. |
The jury found Hayes guilty on all eight charges of conspiracy to defraud. | The jury found Hayes guilty on all eight charges of conspiracy to defraud. |
From Mark Broad, at Southwark Crown Court | |
Hayes stood impassively as the foreman on the jury read out all eight guilty verdicts. | |
His wife noted down the verdicts as they were read out. | |
At one point he shook his head and looked across at his wife, mother and step father in the public gallery. | |
Hayes held his head in his hands while his lawyer read out a list of mitigating factors. | |
The case was brought by the Serious Fraud Office. | The case was brought by the Serious Fraud Office. |
It took the jury one week to arrive at the verdicts. Each count carries a possible 10-year sentence. | |
Hayes, a former star trader, rigged the Libor rates daily for nearly four years while working in Tokyo for UBS, then Citigroup, from 2006 until 2010. | |
Citigroup says it has no comment about the verdicts. UBS has said it was not a party to the case. | |
'Mars bar' | |
Hayes's trading activities were based around movements in the Libor rate - the London interbank offered rate. | |
It is an interest rate used by banks around the world to set the price of financial products worth trillions of pounds. | |
Rigging even minor movements in the rate can result in bumper profits for a trader manipulating the rates, or it can be moved simply to make a bank look more creditworthy. | |
During the trial, the court heard that manipulating the Libor rate was so commonplace that an offer of a Mars bar could get it changed. | |
Hayes told a fellow trader: "Just give the cash desk a Mars bar and they'll set wherever you want." | Hayes told a fellow trader: "Just give the cash desk a Mars bar and they'll set wherever you want." |
Hayes confessed, saying that he did not want to be extradited to the US. | Hayes confessed, saying that he did not want to be extradited to the US. |
He claimed that the manipulation was widespread. | He claimed that the manipulation was widespread. |
Court case | |
Hayes initially co-operated with investigators, confessing to the manipulation. | |
But four months after he was charged in 2013, he changed his legal team, and his plea. | |
He pleaded "not guilty" to the charges, resulting in the trial, which began on 26 May. |