Court of Appeal overturns five former Barclays traders' LIBOR convictions
The Court of Appeal has overturned the convictions of five former Barclays traders who were jailed over the LIBOR rate-rigging scandal after years of appeals.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Court of Appeal has overturned the convictions of five former Barclays traders who were jailed over the manipulation of LIBOR, the interest rate used between banks. The ruling is the latest step in a long effort by the traders and their families to clear their names.
The convictions formed part of the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. Between 2015 and 2019, 19 traders in the UK and US were convicted, and nine were jailed. No senior banker was prosecuted for the crisis or the recession that followed. In July 2012, Barclays was fined for rigging interest rates. MPs demanded arrests, and chief executive Bob Diamond had to resign. But it was junior bankers who faced prosecution.
The appeals process has moved in stages. In 2022, a US appeal court threw out all American convictions. Last year, a UK Supreme Court ruling quashed two convictions. The Court of Appeal's decision now overturns another five.
One former trader described the personal cost. He said two and a half years separated from his family, and his mother passed away while he was in jail. He said he wanted his children to grow up knowing this was a miscarriage of justice, that the record had been cleaned, and that it was in the public domain for the right reasons.
The case has also raised questions about evidence that was kept out of the trials. A 2008 phone call between a Barclays trader and his boss was cited as crucial. Critics said state and bank authorities, including the FCO, FCA and SFO, came together to blame somebody else and resisted putting the miscarriage of justice right year after year. The Serious Fraud Office said after careful consideration it did not oppose the appeals. The Bank of England promised in 2017 to release its records about so-called interest rate rigging. Nine years later, they are still to be released.
The Court of Appeal's ruling means five more convictions have been quashed. The traders and their families have welcomed the outcome.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Between 2015 and 2019, 19 traders across the UK and US were convicted, with nine jailed. | |
| In July 2012, Barclays was fined for interest rate rigging, Bob Diamond resigned, and junior bankers were prosecuted. | |
| The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of five former City traders jailed in a financial crisis scandal. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC ONE West broadcasts treated the ruling as a long-delayed correction of a miscarriage of justice. They gave heavy weight to the human cost for the traders and their families, and to the contrast between jailed junior bankers and unprosecuted senior figures. The reports also pressed the claim that evidence of top-level rate rigging was withheld, and noted the Bank of England's unreleased records.
- “Two and a half years separated from my family, and my mother passed away when I was in jail. So, yeah. It's a burden, and as your children grow up, you want them to grow up knowing that this was a miscarriage of justice, the record's been cleaned, and it's in the public domain for the right reasons.”
- “The state and the banks, or state agencies, the FCO, the FCA, the SFO, have all come together to try to blame somebody else, and they have resisted putting that miscarriage of justice right.”
- “The Bank of England promised in 2017 to release its records about so-called interest rate rigging. Nine years later, they're still to be released.”
Broadcast Timeline
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