Former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar became the 18th banker to have his conviction for Libor manipulation overturned, raising questions about justice in the financial sector. An FT analysis found 47 bankers jailed globally for 2008 crisis-related offenses, mostly in Iceland. The US convicted only one, the UK none — despite major bank failures like RBS.
No Wall Street or City of London CEOs were prosecuted. Instead, authorities targeted traders setting benchmark rates like Libor and Euribor. Between 2015 and 2019, 19 convictions were secured, but nearly all have now been undone.
Tom Hayes, the first convicted, had his ruling quashed due to unfair judicial direction, triggering a cascade of reversals. The Supreme Court acknowledged ample evidence existed but deemed the trial flawed. Ironically, Peter Johnson — the Barclays executive who blew the whistle on 'lowballing' — remains the only one still convicted.
He reported dishonestly low rate submissions by other banks and claimed pressure from senior managers and government figures concerned about Barclays’ borrowing costs during the 2007–2008 crisis. US and UK authorities investigated lowballing but shifted focus to pre-crisis rate manipulation instead.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing