A number of brokers on trial for LIBOR manipulation were cleared of all charges last week. Darrell Read, Danny Wilkinson and Colin Goodman of ICAP, Terry Farr and Jim Gilmour of RP Martin and Noel Cryan of Tullett Prebon were all found not guilty of conspiring with Tom Hayes to manipulate Yen LIBOR. Mr Hayes had previously been found guilty of the same offences by a jury and been sentenced to 14 years in prison (reduced to 11 on appeal).
The jury only took 11 hours to clear them in a trial that lasted over 3 months.
The majority of the brokers stated they had been lying to Mr Hayes about their purported ability to influence Yen LIBOR, and had been pretending in order to please him and win business. Mr Farr accepted that he had been happy to help Mr Hayes, but claimed to be financially unsophisticated and did not know what he was doing was wrong.
However, this is not the end of the LIBOR prosecutions. This month, a number of individuals charged with manipulating the US Dollar LIBOR rate will go on trial in London.
