Libor rate scandal: US courts convict two British bankers of conspiracy and wire fraud
American courts have handed down their first convictions in connection with the Libor-fixing scandal, finding two former Rabobank traders guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud.
Anthony Allen, Rabobank’s former global head of liquidity and finance, and Anthony Conti, a former senior trader, were found guilty by a federal jury in New York City earlier today for their part in the manipulation of the Libor benchmark interest rate – a convention for around £288 trillion of financial contracts and consumer loans – between 2006 and 2010.
The US Justice Deparment brought charges against Allen and Conti, both British nationals, in 2014, one year after Rabobank reached a $1bn (£657m) settlement over its involvement in the scandal.
Leslie Caldwell, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said today that the verdicts “illustrate the department's successful efforts to hold accountable bank executives responsible”.
In August, former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes became the first person convicted in connection with the Libor-fixing scandal when a jury in London found him guilty on eight counts of conspiracy to defraud.