COURT QUASHES SIXTH RATE-RIGGING CONVICTION IN THREE DAYS

The Court of Appeal has quashed the conviction of Christian Bittar, a former Deutsche Bank trader jailed in 2018 for manipulating the Euribor benchmark interest rate. Bittar, who watched proceedings via video link from Switzerland after being refused a visa to attend in person, said he had "waited a very, very long time for this day" and that the injustice he and others suffered had "finally" been recognised. His case follows the same court's decision earlier this week to overturn the convictions of five former Barclays traders in related rate-rigging trials, which one report said resulted from a "wrong turn" that led to unfair errors in their proceedings. Bittar becomes the sixth person to have a conviction overturned in three days.

The Libor and Euribor scandal emerged in 2012, when it was discovered that banks had misrepresented their positions when setting benchmark lending rates around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, boosting profits and masking difficulties. Some 19 City traders were convicted across nine criminal trials in London and New York between 2015 and 2019. Of those, 18 have now had their convictions overturned, according to the BBC. Only Peter Johnson, a former Barclays trader who pleaded guilty and served two years in prison, remains convicted; he was also one of the original whistleblowers in the rate-rigging scandal.

Johnson has now applied to appeal against his conviction, with his lawyer, Ellen Gallagher, describing this week's developments as "another important step on the way to correcting this terrible miscarriage of justice." She said Johnson "intends to appeal" and that his "fight to clear his name continues." The overturned convictions have prompted lawyers and senior politicians to call on the Bank of England and the Treasury to release records relating to their own roles in interest rate-setting during the financial crisis, amid concerns about the role played by central banks and governments at the time.