Christian Bittar’s conviction for rigging interest rates is quashed

An appeals court has quashed former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar’s conviction for conspiracy to defraud in a case involving the manipulation of interest rates. He was convicted in 2018.

Bittar is the eighth former trader to have a conviction overturned in cases involving alleged manipulation of Euribor or Libor. The ruling came days after five former Barclays bankers won their appeals.

A series of overturned convictions

On Wednesday, the court quashed the convictions of Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham. The UK Supreme Court had earlier overturned the convictions of former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes and former Barclays trader Carlo Palombo.

The Supreme Court found that trial judges had given juries “inaccurate and unfair” directions, depriving the defendants of a fair trial. That ruling allowed other traders to challenge their convictions.

Bittar’s appeal and the SFO response

After his acquittal, Bittar said he had waited “a very, very long time” for the ruling and that the injustice suffered by him and others had finally been recognised.

The UK Serious Fraud Office did not oppose the five Barclays appeals but contested Bittar’s case, arguing that his conviction was safe. SFO head of division Jason Williams said the agency had argued for a different outcome but respected the court’s decision.

Bittar’s lawyer, Ben Rose, accused the SFO of failing to ensure that the trials were fair. Euribor and Libor affected pensions, mortgages and savings, as well as financial products worth hundreds of trillions of pounds and euros.

Another Libor appeal planned

Peter Johnson, the ninth former trader convicted in the rate-rigging cases, also intends to appeal. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate Libor in 2014, and his lawyer Ellen Gallagher said he had filed provisional grounds for the appeal.