Key Takeaways
- UK Supreme Court quashed Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo’s convictions due to unfair trials .
- Jury misdirection deemed central to unsafe convictions—no retrial planned .
- Traders served 5.5 and 4 years respectively; Hayes lost family, career, mental health .
- Cases expose alleged scapegoating post-2008 crisis; US cleared all similar charges by 2022 .
- 7 other UK convictions may be challenged; calls for SFO reform and public inquiry .
The Gavel Falls — Differently
The wood-paneled silence of the UK Supreme Court cracked open yesterday. Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo walked in as convicted felons. They walked out cleared men. Ten years of appeals, prison time, broken marriages—gone with a judicial pen stroke. The court didn’t exonerate their actions. It shredded the trials that put them away. Jury instructions were flawed. Unfair. Unsafe. The Serious Fraud Office won’t retry. Too late anyway .
Who Were These Men?
Tom Hayes traded for UBS and Citigroup. Carlo Palombo for Barclays. Not back-office clerks. Not CEOs. Mid-level traders. Hayes became the “ringmaster” of Libor manipulation—prosecutors painted him that way. Got 14 years cut to 11. Served five and a half in Belmarsh high-security. Missed his son’s childhood. Palombo got four years for Euribor rigging. Shared a cell in Wandsworth. Felt like a purge, he said. A normal Tuesday at the bank turned prison time .
Libor — The Ghost Rate
Libor was oxygen for banks. London Interbank Offered Rate. An estimate. What would banks charge to lend to each other? Trillions in mortgages, car loans, derivatives hung on it. Euribor did the same for euros. Banks submitted rates daily. A panel averaged them. Simple. Then 2008 hit. Banks lowballed submissions to hide weakness. Traders nudged numbers for trading gains. The BBC uncovered central banks and governments pressured this too. Bigger scale. No prosecutions there .
The Trials — Where Things Broke
Hayes confessed. Eighty hours of SFO interviews. Said he asked submitters for favors. Routine, he argued. Industry-wide. His mistake? Trusting a jury would understand banking’s gray sludge. The judge told jurors: any rate submission considering commercial interest was dishonest. Full stop. Wrong, said the Supreme Court. That misdirection poisoned the trial. Palombo’s case mirrored it. “Unsafe” convictions. The Guardian noted ample evidence existed—but the process fouled the outcome .
The Human Wreckage
Hayes stood outside court. Pale. Shaken. “Surreal,” he mumbled. His marriage? Dead. His son? A stranger. Five and a half years inside. License conditions choked him after release. Palombo felt relief—and nothing. Numb. Karen Todner, Hayes’ lawyer, sliced deeper: “Tom missed formative years… loss of career, home. Time he’ll never get back.” Compensation? Maybe. “No money fixes this,” Hayes said. The Sky News interview showed the hollowed-out faces .
America Moved On — Britain Lagged
Here’s the kick. US courts overturned Libor convictions by 2022. Matthew Connolly. Gavin Black. Cleared. US judges saw no law against considering commercial interests in submissions. Charges against Hayes dropped stateside. Britain became the “outlier,” MP David Davis spat. Nineteen convicted globally. Nine jailed. All US convictions scrubbed. UK’s Court of Appeal blocked Hayes five times before the Supreme Court took it. Took a Reuters report to highlight the dissonance .
The SFO — Under the Microscope
The Serious Fraud Office brought these cases. Celebrated wins. Now? Silence. “No public interest in a retrial.” Critics bay for blood. Hayes’ legal team demands abolition. The SFO investigates and prosecutes. Conflict of interest, they argue. Like the Post Office scandal. Railroading the little guys. Sir David Davis MP vows a parliamentary fight. Collusion, he calls it. Banks and agencies sacrificing traders to appease crisis rage. The BBC analysis agrees—scapegoating stunk from the start .
What Now? The Dominoes
Seven others convicted in UK Libor trials. Seven potential appeals. Elizabeth Robertson, a lawyer for one, thinks even guilty pleas could unravel. The Supreme Court’s words hang heavy: “Concerns about the effectiveness of the criminal appeal system.” Hayes wants the sea. Palombo wants silence. Libor itself? Dead since 2023. Euribor reformed. The financial world shuffles on. The human cost? Still counting .
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Hayes and Palombo get compensation?
Hayes may reclaim confiscated assets. Full compensation? Unlikely. The UK requires proof of "miscarriage of justice"—a higher bar than an unsafe trial. He told the BBC: “No amount of money gives you back that time” .
Why did the US drop charges earlier?
US courts ruled in 2022 that considering commercial factors in rate submissions wasn’t illegal. Precedent overturned convictions there. The UK’s slower appeals process prolonged the fight .
Could other UK traders appeal now?
Yes. Seven convicted traders could challenge their verdicts. Lawyers argue jury misdirection tainted all similar trials. Even guilty pleas may be reviewed .
Was rate-rigging actually legal?
No. The Supreme Court emphasized “ample evidence” of conspiracy. But defining “dishonesty” required proper jury guidance—which didn’t happen. Context matters .
Who’s accountable for the flawed prosecutions?
MPs and lawyers point to the SFO and Court of Appeal. The former for overreach; the latter for delaying justice. Calls for a public inquiry grow louder .
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