Former UBS and Citigroup trader gets 14 year jail sentence for Libor rigging
Former trader for Citigroup and UBS, Tom Hayes, has been given a 14 year jail sentence for rigging the Libor interest rate. Hayes has been accused of being the ringleader in a vast conspiracy to fix Libor rates between 2006 and 2010, by cajoling and at times bribing brokers and traders to help rig rates for profit. Hayes maintained he was transparent about trying to influence rates and that his managers were aware. The result indicates the seriousness of UK authorities in beginning to crack down on individuals involved in bad behaviour, rather than just punishing their employers.
LONDON — Tom Hayes, a former trader at Citigroup and UBS, was convicted Monday on eight counts of conspiring to manipulate a global benchmark interest rate known as Libor, bolstering efforts by prosecutors here to pursue financial wrongdoing.

Shortly after the verdict, Mr. Hayes was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The verdict came more than three years after a conspiracy among traders to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, first came to light.

The ensuing scandal has led to billions of dollars in fines and has rocked the reputations of some of the world’s biggest banks, including Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Deutsche Bank.

Mr. Hayes, 35, was the first person to go to trial in Britain on criminal charges related to Libor manipulation, and his case was seen as a bellwether for British authorities, who have been criticized in the United States for not being as aggressive as the Justice Department when it comes to pursuing financial crime.