Four former bankers at Barclays have been jailed for their role in attempting to manipulate the interest rate benchmark Libor.
Three were found guilty after an 11-week trial and the fourth had already pleaded guilty. The jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of two other former traders, and they will face a retrial.
Jay Merchant, a 45-year old trader based in New York, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison by judge Anthony Leonard at Southwark Crown Court.
He will be joined by his underling Alex Pabon, aged 38, who was given a sentence of two years and nine months.
Another junior trader, the 35-year old Libor submitter Jonathan Mathew, was given four years in jail.
His boss Peter Johnson, 61, pleaded guilty before the trial and was also given four years.
Mr Merchant was told he bore the “greatest responsibility” for the crime, which saw him and his junior trader repeatedly ask Barclays’ Libor submitters to adjust the submission to suit his trading book.
As a result Mr Merchant hoped to benefit to the cost of the counterparties on the other side of the trades who, the prosecution said, would not be aware that Libor was being fixed.
As Libor is used by borrowers and lenders across the world to set prices in trillions of pounds-worth of loans, deals and derivatives transactions, the traders’ activity could have had a major knock-on effect globally.
The jury agreed with the prosecution that this was dishonest behaviour, in the case of the three traders found guilty.
It may also have undermined faith in the benchmark and the wider financial market.
The manipulation scandal has also hurt banks, including Barclays, which was fined £290m in 2012.
The former bankers are expected to serve half of their sentences before being released on licence.
The other two defendants – Stylianos Contogoulas and Ryan Reich – will face a retrial, the Serious Fraud Office has announced.
Previous trials have seen former UBS and Citi trader Tom Hayes jailed for 11 years, while six former brokers accused of working with him were acquitted.
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