Ex-bankers jailed for rigging rates have convictions quashed

Five former Barclays traders sentenced in one of the biggest scandals of the financial crisis have had their convictions overturned following a long-running legal battle.

Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, Colin Bermingham were convicted following trials for manipulating the interest rates used for loans between banks.

But their convictions were quashed on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal. The ruling came after two other former City traders had their convictions overturned last year, which paved the way for others to appeal.

The traders were cast by prosecutors as a symbol of banker greed amid public backlash and anger during the 2008 financial crisis.

Merchant, Mathew, Pabon and Bermingham have all served various jail terms. Moryoussef was sentenced in his absence in 2018, never returned to the UK to serve time after France refused to extradite him.

The prosecutions were over the manipulation of two key interest rate mechanisms: Libor and Euribor, which at the time were used to set borrowing costs on a range of loans such as mortgages and car finance deals.

Mathew said the "strain" of what he had gone through had been a burden on him for the last 10 years.

"Having this conviction quashed is not simply about correcting the record, it's about finally having validation that this is an injustice that never should have happened," the 45-year-old said.

"I now have two children and this means a great deal to have the record corrected for their sake as well."

Merchant, 55, added that he looked forward to moving on with his life, but said part of that would be "ensuring that those responsible for what happened are held fully accountable".

Lord Justice Edis said full reasons behind the overturned convictions would be given later on Wednesday.

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The financial crisis began in 2008, sending huge economic shockwaves across the world and triggering recessions in many countries.

There was a public backlash against bankers, held by many to be responsible for the crisis, while the financial sector was protected by taxpayer-funded bailouts.

The Libor scandal erupted in 2012, when it was discovered that at the outbreak of the financial crisis, banks had been misrepresenting their positions during the process of setting the lending rate, helping to boost profits and mask difficulties.

Some 19 City traders were convicted in the US and UK between 2015 and 2019 across nine criminal trials held in London and New York.

Each of the former Barclays traders in Wednesday's successful appeal had originally been convicted of a single count of conspiracy to defraud as result of alleged attempts to influence financial benchmark rates.

Two other bankers have already had their names cleared.

Tom Hayes, a former trader at Swiss bank UBS, was the first banker jailed. He won a 10-year legal battle last year to have his conviction overturned at the Supreme Court in July 2025.

His victory alongside that of fellow trader Carlo Palombo, who was jailed in 2019, paved the way for others to challenge their convictions.

Hayes and Palombo argued they were wrongly prosecuted for what were normal commercial practices in order to appease public anger towards the banks over the financial crisis.

Pabon, 48, who had his name cleared on Wednesday, hailed Hayes for his refusal to "let it go". He had "pushed this through" for the rest of them, he said.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the original case against the traders, has not opposed the appeals.

Barclays bank has been contacted for comment.

The latest ruling means just two traders still have convictions over interest rate rigging - former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar and former Barclays trader Peter Johnson.

Bittar was jailed in 2018 after pleading guilty and served two years in prison. He will challenge his conviction on 9 October.

Johnson was the original whistleblower calling attention to the Libor scandal but pleaded guilty on advice that he had little chance of winning at trial. He also hopes to appeal.