Former City trader Christian Bittar has become the eighth person to have his conviction for rigging interest rates quashed, following closely behind five other former bankers who successfully cleared their names. Bittar, a former employee of Deutsche Bank, was originally convicted in 2018 on charges of conspiracy to defraud. His successful challenge arrives just days after the court overturned the convictions of five former Barclays employees: Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Bermingham.
This string of acquittals follows a pivotal UK Supreme Court ruling from over a year ago that cleared former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes alongside former Barclays trader Carlo Palombo. That legal victory paved the way for other convicted traders to mount challenges against their own verdicts. Following his acquittal, Bittar expressed relief, stating that he had waited a very long time for the day the injustice he and others suffered would be recognized, while also thanking those who supported and worked tirelessly on his behalf.
Bittar and the other implicated traders had previously received prison sentences for manipulating critical financial benchmarks, specifically the euro interbank offered rate, known as Euribor, and the now-defunct London interbank offered rate, or Libor. These benchmark rates influenced the valuation of ordinary citizens' mortgages, pensions, and savings, alongside hundreds of trillions of pounds and euros in global financial products. Across the board, nine bankers faced fraud convictions related to the scheme.
The Supreme Court dismantled the earlier convictions of Hayes and Palombo after identifying significant flaws in their original trials, concluding that trial judges provided inaccurate and unfair instructions to juries that effectively deprived the defendants of a fair trial. The latest rulings represent a significant setback for the Serious Fraud Office, which originally brought the prosecutions against the traders.
While the Serious Fraud Office chose not to contest the appeals brought by the five Barclays men, it did actively oppose Bittar's appeal, maintaining that his conviction remained safe. Jason Williams, a division head at the Serious Fraud Office, noted that the agency argued for a different outcome while respecting the court's final ruling regarding Christian Bittar, adding that the organization remains dedicated to combating complex fraud, bribery, and corruption.
Ben Rose, a representative from the law firm Hickman and Rose who acted for Bittar, criticized the agency, calling it a scandal that the Serious Fraud Office consistently failed to uphold its duty in guaranteeing fair trials. Meanwhile, Peter Johnson remains the ninth former trader convicted in the rate-rigging scandal and is preparing his own appeal. Having pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate Libor back in 2014, Johnson is moving forward with legal representation, with his lawyer Ellen Gallagher confirming that he has taken initial steps toward an appeal by filing provisional grounds.