Christian Bittar has conviction for rigging interest rates quashed

Christian Bittar in 2016. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/ReutersView image in fullscreenChristian Bittar in 2016. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/ReutersChristian Bittar has conviction for rigging interest rates quashedFormer City banker becomes eighth to clear their name, just days after five others were acquitted

Former City trader Christian Bittar has become the eighth person to have his conviction for rigging interest rates quashed, just days after five other former bankers also successfully cleared their names.

Christian Bittar, who previously worked for Deutsche Bank, was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy to defraud.

On Wednesday, the court overturned the convictions of Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham, all of whom worked at Barclays.

This week’s acquittals come just over a year after the UK supreme court overturned a decade-old ruling against the former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes and former Barclays trader Carlo Palombo. Their victory opened the door for the other traders to challenge their convictions.

Bittar said after his acquittal: “I have waited a very, very long time for this day. Finally, the injustice of what I and others suffered has been recognised. I am so grateful for those who stood by me through this ordeal and those who worked so tirelessly to correct it.”

Bittar and the five other former traders were all sentenced to jail on charges of manipulating the euro interbank offered rate (Euribor) or the now defunct London interbank offered rate (Libor).

The Euribor and Libor rates affected the value of ordinary people’s pensions, mortgages and savings, as well as hundreds of trillions of pounds and euros worth of financial products around the world. Nine bankers accused of rigging the rates were given fraud convictions.

The supreme court overturned the convictions of Hayes and Palombo after finding faults in the original trials, ruling that trial judges had given “inaccurate and unfair” instructions to the juries, that had ultimately “deprived” the men of a fair trial.

Friday’s ruling marks a further blow for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the original charges against the former traders.

While the SFO did not contest the appeals of the five men acquitted on Wednesday, it did contest Bittar’s appeal, stating his conviction was safe.

Jason Williams, head of division at the SFO, said: “We argued for a different outcome but respect the court’s decision in relation to Christian Bittar. The SFO remains committed to tackling the most complex fraud, bribery and corruption.”

Ben Rose of law firm Hickman and Rose, who represented Bittar, said it was a “scandal that the SFO has consistently failed to uphold its duty to ensure that these trials are fair”.

Peter Johnson, the ninth former trader who was convicted of rate rigging, also intends to appeal against his conviction. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate Libor in 2014.

Ellen Gallagher, a partner at Vardags, who represents Johnson, said: “Peter’s fight to clear his name continues.

“As the court made clear today, he has taken the first steps towards that appeal by filing provisional grounds.”