Exclusive: Libor trader Tom Hayes has appeal request quashed
Disgraced trader Tom Hayes who was jailed for rigging the inter bank lending rate has had an appeal request rejected.
The former UBS and Citigroup trader, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to rig the Libor benchmark interest rate, has been refused the chance to clear his name by appealing against his conviction.
A provisional judgement handed down by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) today said it would not refer Tom Hayes’ case to the Court of Appeal. Hayes still has until 4th February 2022 to make further submissions which he intends to do as he continues the “fight to clear his name.”
“This is a perverse decision from the CCRC,” said Hayes in comments to Morning Wire
Hayes, who maintains that he was wrongfully convicted and that his managers at both UBS and Citigroup condoned his actions, says his 2015 conviction was “based on the false admissions given during interview to the SFO in order to avoid extradition to the US.”
“I have lost my liberty, my marriage, the experience of sharing my son’s childhood, and I also lost all my material possessions. But I have not lost my pride, that I refused to testify and perjure myself against my co-defendants, who were all acquitted,” Hayes said.
The Hayes case
In 2015 Tom Hayes was found guilty of manipulating a benchmark which affected the interest rates of trillions of dollars’ worth of financial products, including loans and mortgages.
Hayes was sentenced to 11 years in jail having managed to reduce a 14 year sentence on appeal. He was released from prison, on licence, in January 2021 having served half of his sentence.
The Court of Appeal previously rejected Mr Hayes’ original appeal against his conviction and he subsequently submitted an application to the CCRC who today reached a provisional decision not to refer the case back to the appeal court.
“I will continue to fight to clear my name. I have done nothing wrong and have been scapegoated to cover the policies of my employers, the industry practise and to protect the reputation of the financial system,” Hayes said.
Commenting on today’s decision a spokesperson for the Serious Fraud Office said, “we will continue to assist the Criminal Cases Review Commission in its enquiries.”
Hayes’ former employers Citigroup and UBS declined to comment.
Read more: Criminal Commission consider report alleging Tom Hayes was wrongfully convicted for Libor rigging