An ex-trader from the United Kingdom who had pleaded guilty to “rigging” interest rates in the United States had his conviction overturned.
Former Deutsche Bank trader Mike Curtler was one of 38 defendants brought to court after the US Department of Justice ruled their actions to be illegal.
However, early this year in the United States, an appeals court ruled that no laws were breached. As Mr. Curtler’s attorney put it, they are “very thrilled” with the verdict.
Eight years ago in 2012, the US Department of Justice declared illegal interest rate “rigging,” and fined Barclays Bank for its involvement.
As a result, 38 former brokers and traders have been prosecuted for emails and messages asking colleagues to adjust their estimates of the cost of borrowing cash to suit the bank’s commercial interests.
Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) is an index that measures the cost of borrowing money by compiling daily estimates of the interest rates paid by banks.
Libor, like the FTSE, measures the cost at which financial institutions can borrow funds from other financial institutions in the wholesale money markets.
It has been used for 35 years to determine the interest rates for millions of mortgages and business loans all around the globe.
Daily, 16 financial institutions are polled to determine the interest rate used to calculate Libor. After everyone has responded, the average is calculated.
Messages and emails requesting high or low submissions of interest rates were used as evidence against traders like Mike Curtler.
Mike Curtler pled guilty after admitting he had complied with the demands made in the emails because he was threatened with up to 15 years in prison in the United States if he went to trial.
Former Deutsche Bank traders Gavin Black of Middlesex and Matt Connolly of New Jersey were acquitted in January of this year after a US appeals court concluded that the demands were not illegal.
Recently, US courts have been declaring even those who pleaded guilty innocent, like Mike Curtler.
“I’m relieved that a legal body in the United States has deemed our actions to be legal. We can only hope that after a decade of misery, we may now begin to recover and reconstruct “The BBC, as Mr. Curtler put it.
Mr. Curtler’s attorney, David Krakoff, issued the following statement: “We are really glad that Mike Curtler has been cleared and that the courts have ruled that there was no misconduct whatsoever.”
Former trader Tim Parietti, 56, had his guilty plea in New York overturned last month, and the government was ordered to pay back the £1m punishment.
Only in the United Kingdom have convictions for “rigging” interest rates been upheld.
In the United Kingdom, nine people have been found guilty thus far; these include Tom Hayes, Peter Johnson, Jonathan Mathew, Alex Pabon, Jay Merchant, Christian Bittar, Philippe Moryoussef, Carlo Palombo, and Colin Bermingham.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
