Six more traders to face criminal charges for Libor rigging

A further six individuals are to face criminal charges in connection with the Libor scandal, the Financial Times has revealed.

The newspaper says that those charged will are suspected of similar offences to Terry Farr and James Gilmour – formerly of brokerage firm RP Martin – who are due to stand trial in September 2015.

In December, the counsel to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the UK asked Justice Jeremy Cooke to adjourn the cases of Farr and Gilmour until later than usual. This was so they could be joined by new defendants, pending the outcome of current investigations.

Also charged is Tom Hayes, a former currency trader at UBS and Citigroup. The SFO counsel told the court, “There are a number of individuals whose activities in relation to Mr Hayes are being considered.”

The head of the SFO called the investigations into the rigging of Libor – the London Interbank Offered Rate that determines the interest rates by acting as a benchmark on more than £211 trillion worth of products – an “enormous” undertaking.

Last month, the US Department of Justice announced that it was bringing criminal charges before three individuals from the UK in connection with Libor rigging. Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman said that the three traders “deliberately submitted what they called ‘obscenely high’ or ‘silly low’ Libor rates in order to benefit their own trading positions”.

In recent months, a number of global banks have seen the imposition of large fines, including Dutch bank Rabobank, which was fined £637m in October last year, The Royal Bank of Scotland shelled out £390m in February 2013 while Barclays paid £276m.

Further reading:

Three former Rabobank traders charged over Libor

Deutsche Bank slammed by German regulator over Libor response

Serious Fraud Office expects more Libor charges in 2014

22 more people implicated in Libor scandal

Bob Diamond among Barclays execs called to give evidence in Libor trail