Barclays Qatari loan fraud charges thrown out by Crown Court May 22, 2018 Barclays celebrated a significant victory over the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday when the Crown Court dismissed charges surrounding the bank’s huge capital raising during the financial crisis a decade ago. The SFO alleged that a $3bn (£2.2bn) loan Barclays gave Qatari investors led to the Qatari acquisition of shares in a Barclays fundraising, an [...]
Russian heyday of corruption is over, says MP on release of report into Kremlin money in London May 21, 2018 The days when Russian corruption was an acceptable part of business are over, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee has said. Speaking to City A.M ahead of the publication of a new report into corrupt Kremlin-connected money in the capital, Tom Tugendhat said the issue needed to be taken “very seriously”. The report, [...]
Outgoing Serious Fraud Office boss David Green QC in talks with magic circle firm Slaughter and May May 15, 2018 Former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) boss David Green QC is in talks to join magic circle firm Slaughter and May. Website Legal Week has reported that the former SFO director has made an application to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments which decides on the suitability of new jobs for former senior civil servants and [...]
Recently disclosed UBS emails shed new light on alleged ‘ringmaster’ of Libor scandal Tom Hayes May 14, 2018 Recently disclosed emails between two senior employees at UBS shed new light on the character of Tom Hayes, the convicted former Libor trader who was accused of being the “ringmaster” in the interest rate fixing scandal that rocked the banking industry. A 2008 email exchange between two unidentified employees at the bank describe Hayes, who [...]
Lawyers slam SFO disclosure failings for ‘miscarriage of justice’ in Tom Hayes Libor conviction April 27, 2018 The legal team for convicted Libor trader Tom Hayes has slammed the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for a series of disclosure failings they say led to a miscarriage of justice and his wrongful conviction. Hayes’s lawyer Karen Todner has written to parliament’s Justice Committee urging it to probe the SFO as part of an inquiry [...]
Property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz suffers blow in the Supreme Court over discretionary trust April 23, 2018 Property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz has lost a landmark Supreme Court judgment against a conglomerate of advisers he claimed acted negligently when his discretionary trust fell into financial difficulty. The London businessman, thought to be worth around £800m, accused various trustees of the Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust (TDT) of failing to alter the trust’s structure around the [...]
“People can judge me on whatever basis they like” – departing SFO director David Green says final farewell April 13, 2018 The view of Trafalgar Square surrounding David Green’s office is one he will miss. The departing director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has enjoyed the architecture for the six years that he has been in, and reshaped, the role that has attracted – perhaps surprisingly – a fair amount of political drama. Green has [...]
Five traders from Barclays and Deutsche Bank to appear in first Euribor-rigging trial tomorrow April 8, 2018 The first trial into manipulations of the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) will kick off tomorrow as five former traders stand accused of manipulating the Brussels-based benchmark at the height of the financial crisis. Four former Barclays traders – Philippe Moryoussef, Carlo Palombo, Colin Bermingham and Sisse Bohart – and ex- Deutsche Bank trader Achim [...]
Former Deutsche Bank trader charged with Euribor rigging in SFO probe pleads guilty March 16, 2018 A former star trader who was once considered one of Deutsche Bank’s most successful bankers has pleaded guilty in a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) probe into Euribor manipulation. Christian Bittar, who was among six traders charged in the first SFO case that focused on the Brussels-based benchmark, pleaded guilty to the offence on 2 March. News [...]
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) angling for increase in annual budget to take on “blockbuster cases” March 13, 2018 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is having “ongoing conversations” about the way it is funded after questions have been raised regarding its current arrangements. The BBC reported that the prosecutor was in talks with the Treasury to increase its annual budget, which currently sits at £31m. The body often asks the Treasury for an extra [...]