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Two ex-traders jailed in Euribor rigging case
LONDON, July 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A British court on Thursday handed down
jail terms to two former traders for their roles in rigging the Euribor
lending rate, a key benchmark in financial markets.
Christian Bittar, formerly at Deutsche Bank, played a leading role in the
fraud and made an estimated o2.5 million (2.8 million euros, $3.2 million)
out of it.
The 46-year-old was sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
Former Barclays trader Philippe Moryoussef, 50, was sentenced in his
absence to eight years in prison.
Moryoussef fled to his native France before being convicted.
The two were convicted of conspiracy to defraud between 2005 and 2009 for
manipulating the process used to set the Euribor, the euro interbank
benchmark rate.
Judge Michael Gledhill said Bittar was not motivated by “greed alone” but
also the “satisfaction of being able to beat the system”.
“It is beyond irony that you were legitimately earning huge sums and there
was no obvious need to resort to dishonest manipulation,” he said.
Bittar was ordered to pay around o3.3 million in costs and compensation.
Several banks have already had to pay hefty fines over Euribor-rigging in
Britain and the United States, and the European Union has tightened
legislation against market manipulation.
BSS/AFP/HR/1025