Ex-Barclays traders’ rate-rigging convictions quashed

Five former Barclays traders, accused of rigging interest rates, have seen their convictions overturned following a Supreme Court ruling in a case that echoes the 2015 conviction of former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes. The five - Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Bermingham - were jailed between 2016 and 2019 for manipulating the Euribor and Libor rates, which impacted pensions, mortgages, and savings, as well as financial products worth trillions of pounds and euros worldwide.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred their cases to the court of appeal in January, following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Tom Hayes' and Carlo Palombo's convictions due to faulty trial proceedings. The SFO, which brought the original charges, found their convictions "may be considered unsafe" after the Hayes and Palombo rulings. They did not contest the appeals, and Mathew expressed relief, saying the conviction was a burden he carried for a decade.

Carlo Palombo, sentenced to four years for Euribor rigging, also had his conviction quashed on the same day. Jason Williams, head of the SFO's division, stated that the agency does not oppose the appeals, acknowledging the supreme court's finding that there was evidence for a properly directed jury to convict Hayes and Palombo. The SFO argued that Hayes and Palombo's convictions remained safe.