Court of Appeal denies Tom Hayes’ Supreme Court bid, but certified points leaves the door open to apply directly
Former Libor trader Tom Hayes‘ application to take his case to the highest court in the land was refused by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday morning.
His permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused by the Court of Appeal, however, the judges did certified that a point of law of general public importance was involved in their decision.
The court stated that it should be for the Supreme Court to decide whether the point of law is one which it ought to consider in the light of the consistent series of decisions of the Court of Appeal.
The certified point of law of general public importance focuses on the proper construction of the Libor and Euribor definitions.
Former UBS and Citigroup trader Hayes (45) was sentenced in 2015 to 11 years in prison after he was found guilty of conspiring to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate, known as Libor. He was the first person convicted in Britain of rigging the now-discredited financial benchmark.
His case is joined with Carlo Palombo (44), a former trader at Barclays, was convicted of rigging the Euro Interbank Offered Rate, known as Euribor. He was sentenced to four years in prison back in 2019 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £725,000.
Back in March in a highly anticipated judgment, the Court of Appeal dismissed the men’s appeal to overturn their criminal conviction.
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the March decision, Hayes stated that the “UK remains an international outlier in relation to the definition operation of Libor, not only with America but also with Europe.” He asked” “the question is in international financial markets, can we allow such a discrepancy to continue?”
Afterwards, Tory MP David Davis also chipped in on the ruling, stating that it was “vital that the judges allow it to go to the Supreme Court.”
Just last week it was revealed by the Financial Times that the UK anti-fraud agency, the Serious Fraud Office is reviewing its Libor prosecutions, including the conviction of Hayes, after problems with the agency’s disclosure software systems forced it to revisit old cases.
In a statement after the Court of Appeal’s this morning, Hayes said: “I’m delighted that, at the fifth attempt the court has finally and correctly certified this as a point of law of public importance.”
His lawyer Karen Todner stated that “the Court of Appeal has recognised the significance of the decisions in the ibor cases and I am delighted to say they have certified a point of public importance to be considered by the Supreme Court.”
She explained that they must now apply to the Supreme Court for permission for the appeal to be heard.
Tweeting Tuesday afternoon, Davis MP added that “it is vital the Supreme Court now gives permission for the appeal to be heard.”
While a spokesperson for SFO said: “As a result of our investigations, nine bank traders – including Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo – were convicted for conspiracy to defraud. We note today’s decision by the Court of Appeal which refused them permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.”