Noel Cryan, an ex-Tullett Prebon Plc (TLPR) broke, has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to manipulate the London interbank offered rate related to the Japanese yen. He is charged with conspiracy to defraud, which purportedly would have occurred in 2009, in London.
Cryan is among numerous brokers that the U.K. Serious Fraud Office has charged for Libor rigging. Meantime, in the U.S., Anthony Conti, who is also a former Rabobank Groep trader, has pleaded not guilty to Libor manipulation charges.
The 46-year-old, who is English, didn’t combat extradition to the United States. He was released on bond and allowed to go home and vacation in France. He could go to trial at the same time as Anthony Allen, the ex-global liquidity and finance head of Rabobank. Allen pleaded not guilty to similar charges. Both men are accused of involvement in the scam to manipulate the U.S. dollar and yen Libor to make money on derivatives linked to benchmarks for the bank.
In March, another ex-Robobank trader, Lee Stewart, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manipulate the interest rate. The 51-year-old worked as a senior derivatives trader for Rabobank for 16 years. He admitted to getting involved in derivative contracts involving swaps tied to LIBOR for the U.S. dollar. He said that from May 2006 through early 2011, he and others at the bank worked together to manipulate the rate. Stewart’s sentencing is scheduled for June 2017.
Two other ex-Rabobank traders, Paul Robson and Takayuki Yagami, have both pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud. They too are waiting for their sentence.
In 2013, Rabobank consented to pay $1.1 billion to resolve probes in the U.K., the U.S. and the Netherlands over its involvement in benchmark interest rate manipulation, including Libor. It’s deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes a $325 million penalty, comes with a deferred prosecution agreement.
And as we reported in a recent blog post, Deutsche Bank (DB) is expected to soon reach what could be an over $1.5 billion settlement with regulators in Britain and the U.S. over Libor manipulation allegations as well. A criminal guilty plea may also be likely.
An agreement accompanied by this sum would be even larger than the $1.5 billion deal that UBS (UBS) arrived at over Libor rigging with international regulators in 2012. The Swiss bank admitted to fraud in the rate manipulation scandal.
UBS admitted that some of its employees tried to manipulate LIBOR related to a number of currencies. Much of the rigging occurred in its Japan unit. The bank also said that some of its employees worked with employees at other banks, as well as cash brokers, to guide the benchmark rates so their trading positions would benefit.
Sixth broker pleads not guilty to Libor fraud charges in UK court, Reuters, April 17, 2015
More Blog Posts:
Deutsche Bank Settlement Over Libor Rigging Likely to Exceed $1.5B, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, April 10, 2015
Texas-Based Broker-Dealer Faces SEC Charges Over Supervisory and Customer Protection Violations, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, March 6, 2015
DOJ Gets Ready to Wrap Mortgage Bond Case Against Standard & Poor’s, Probes Moody’s, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, January 31, 2015