Libor scandal: Two former Rabobank traders sentenced for offences related to manipulating Libor in the US
Two former traders late last night were handed prison sentences in the US for offences related to Libor fixing.
Anthony Allen, Rabobank's former global head of liquidity and finance, and Anthony Conti, a former senior trader on Rabobank's money markets desk, are the first people in the US to face trial and be charged for their roles in manipulating the interbank lending rate.
Allen was handed a two year prison, while Conti was sentenced to one year in jail. Both men are British citizens.
Allen and Conti were found guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges by a federal jury last November on the grounds that they played a role in a scheme to manipulate the Yen and US dollar linked Libor. Their trial lasted four weeks.
“Allen and Conti were entrusted to set Libor, a critically important interest rate benchmark,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “Their scheme to manipulate this rate to increase their bank's profits undermined the integrity of our financial markets and the public's confidence in the fairness of the financial system."
Two other Rabobank ex-employees, Lee Stewart and Takayuki Yagami, have already been convicted as part of the Libor investigation after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy.
Tetsuya Motomura and Paul Thompson, also former Rabobank employees, are awaiting trial and are currently presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Rabobank itself entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice in 2013 for a $325m (£227.7m) penalty to resolve matters arising from the bank's Libor submissions.
Last August, former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes became the first person in the UK to be convicted on charges related to manipulating Libor. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison, although this reduced on appeal in December to 11 years by the Court of Appeal.
Hayes had wanted to appeal to the Supreme Court but this was blocked earlier this week.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, six former brokers, who were charged on offences relating to conspiring with Hayes to manipulate Libor, were found not guilty by a jury in the second Libor trial in the UK.