Libor: Tom Hayes set for Supreme Court after permission granted for final plea
The highest court in the land is set to hear ex-bankers Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo’s Libor and Euribor appeal after granting them permission to hear a final plea.
Former UBS and Citigroup trader Hayes was sentenced in 2015 to 11 years in prison after he was found guilty of conspiring to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor). He was the first person convicted in Britain of rigging the now-discredited financial benchmark.
While Palombo, a former trader at Barclays, was convicted of rigging the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor). He was sentenced to four years in prison back in 2019.
The men have long been fighting a campaigning to have their names cleared.
The cases of Hayes and Palombo were referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC), to which was heard over three days in early March.
However, in a highly anticipated ruling, on 27 March, the Court of Appeal upheld their convictions, leading it to dismiss the appeals.
Speaking at the time, Hayes told a huddle of the press that the “UK remains an international outlier in relation to the definition operation of Libor, not only with America but also with Europe.”
The UK is now the only country in which this conduct is considered a crime. The Court of Appeal decision resulted in David Davis MP saying it made the capital an “outlier” compared to other financial capitals.
Hayes and Palombo had to take their case directly to the Supreme Court after permission was refused by the Court of Appeal in May, but a point of law was certified.
It was revealed today that the Supreme Court granted Hayes and Palombo’s application to appeal.
Commenting on the decision, Hayes lawyer, Karen Todner said: “I’m delighted the Supreme Court has agreed to hear our case and that we have a chance for this dreadful miscarriage of justice to be overturned.”
“Tom’s legal team of myself, Adrian Darbishire KC and Tom Doble will continue to do everything in our power to ensure he is finally cleared,” she added.
While Palombo lawyer Ben Rose of Hickman & Rose commented: “I’m delighted that the Supreme Court has granted Carlo and Tom permission to appeal.”
“The Court of Appeal Criminal Division has ruled on the interpretation of Libor/Euribor five times now and left the UK as an outlier in criminalising this conduct. I sincerely hope that the Supreme Court will reverse these long-standing miscarriages of justice,” he added.
Currently there is no timeline on when the court date will be it depends on the court availability to hear the case.