Former Barclays Traders Have Convictions Quashed After Libor Rate-Rigging Appeals

Five former Barclays traders who were jailed following one of the biggest financial scandals of the post-2008 crisis have had their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham were convicted following prosecutions over the manipulation of benchmark interest rates used to help determine borrowing costs between banks.

Their convictions were quashed on Wednesday following a long-running legal battle.

The ruling follows successful appeals by two other former City traders last year, which opened the way for further challenges against convictions arising from the Libor and Euribor investigations.

Convictions dating back to the financial crisis

The prosecutions arose from allegations involving Libor and Euribor, benchmark rates that were used to influence the cost of borrowing across financial markets.

Libor in particular became one of the defining scandals of the financial crisis after banks were found to have misrepresented information used in the process of setting the benchmark rate.

The scandal emerged against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, when governments and taxpayers around the world faced enormous economic disruption and financial institutions came under intense public scrutiny.

The prosecutions that followed resulted in convictions of traders in both the UK and United States.

Around 19 City traders were convicted between 2015 and 2019 across nine criminal trials held in London and New York.

The five former Barclays traders whose convictions were overturned on Wednesday had each originally been convicted of a single count of conspiracy to defraud.

Former prisoners say convictions were an injustice

Some of the traders have consistently maintained that they were wrongly prosecuted for conduct they considered part of normal commercial dealing.

Jonathan Mathew, who served a prison sentence, said the legal battle had placed a significant strain on him for the past decade.

He said having his conviction quashed was about more than correcting his criminal record and described the original conviction as an injustice.

Mathew also said clearing his name meant a great deal to him because he now has two children.

Jay Merchant, who is 55, said he wanted to move forward with his life while also calling for those responsible for what happened to be held accountable.

The comments represent the former traders' own assessment of their cases and should be understood in the context of the Court of Appeal's decision.

A legal battle lasting years

The successful appeals follow a series of major legal developments.

Former UBS trader Tom Hayes became the first banker convicted over the rate-rigging scandal to have his conviction overturned when the Supreme Court ruled in his favour in July 2025 after a decade-long legal battle.

Former trader Carlo Palombo, who was jailed in 2019, also subsequently had his conviction overturned.

Their cases became important to the other former traders seeking to challenge their convictions.

Alex Pabon, 48, said Hayes had refused to let the issue go and had helped push the legal challenge forward for the other traders.

The Serious Fraud Office did not oppose the appeals

The original prosecutions were brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The SFO has not opposed the latest appeals.

The Court of Appeal has indicated that its full reasons for overturning the convictions will be provided separately.

Those reasons are expected to provide further detail about why the original convictions could no longer stand.

Not every conviction has been overturned

The latest ruling does not bring the legal history of the Libor prosecutions to an end.

Two traders still have convictions relating to interest-rate manipulation.

Former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar was jailed in 2018 after pleading guilty and served two years in prison. He is due to challenge his conviction on 9 October.

Former Barclays trader Peter Johnson, who was an early whistleblower in the Libor scandal, also hopes to appeal his conviction.

Johnson pleaded guilty after receiving legal advice that he had little prospect of successfully defending himself at trial.

A scandal that changed financial regulation

The Libor scandal became symbolic of the wider public anger directed towards the banking industry following the 2008 financial crisis.

Banks had received taxpayer-funded support during the crisis while investigations later uncovered evidence of misconduct involving benchmark interest rates.

The original prosecutions were therefore watched closely by regulators, prosecutors and the public.

But the successful appeals have raised important questions about how those cases were brought and whether the convictions were properly founded.

The Court of Appeal's latest decision does not erase the wider history of the Libor scandal or the misconduct uncovered within financial markets.

It does, however, mean that five former Barclays traders who were previously convicted of conspiracy to defraud no longer have those convictions standing against them.

The legal battle over one of the most controversial chapters of the financial crisis is continuing.