Key facts
- Christian Bittar, a former City trader, had his conviction for rigging interest rates quashed.
- Bittar was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy to defraud.
- Five other former Barclays bankers - Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Bermingham - also had their convictions overturned.
- The convictions related to manipulating the euro interbank offered rate (Euribor) or the London interbank offered rate (Libor).
- The SFO contested Bittar's appeal, though it did not contest the appeals of the five other traders acquitted this week.
- Peter Johnson, another former trader convicted of rate rigging, intends to appeal his conviction.
Former City trader Christian Bittar has had his conviction for rigging interest rates quashed, marking the eighth such successful appeal. This follows closely behind the overturning of convictions for five other former bankers earlier this week, including Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Bermingham, all of whom previously worked at Barclays.
Bittar, who formerly worked for Deutsche Bank, was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy to defraud. His acquittal, and those of the other five, builds on a victory last year when the UK supreme court overturned the decade-old convictions of Tom Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup trader, and Carlo Palombo, a former Barclays trader. Their success opened the path for other traders to challenge their own convictions.
Bittar stated that he had "waited a very, very long time for this day" and expressed gratitude for the recognition of the injustice he and others suffered. The convictions in question stemmed from charges of manipulating the euro interbank offered rate (Euribor) or the now defunct London interbank offered rate (Libor). These rates impacted pensions, mortgages, savings, and hundreds of trillions of pounds and euros in financial products globally.
The supreme court's earlier ruling in the Hayes and Palombo cases cited "inaccurate and unfair" jury instructions as faults in the original trials, which ultimately deprived the men of a fair trial. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the original charges, did not contest the appeals of the five traders acquitted on Wednesday but did argue against Bittar's appeal, maintaining his conviction was safe.
Jason Williams, head of division at the SFO, acknowledged the court's decision regarding Bittar while reaffirming the SFO's commitment to tackling complex fraud. Ben Rose of law firm Hickman and Rose, representing Bittar, criticized the SFO for failing to ensure fair trials. Peter Johnson, another convicted trader, also plans to appeal his conviction, with his lawyer Ellen Gallagher stating that Johnson has filed provisional grounds for his appeal.