A few convictions of traders. Several walk.

Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock

An ongoing challenge for law enforcement in pursuing charges against bankers is actually getting convictions at trial. Even manipulating Libor is a tough sell to juries.

For those who wanted to see bunches of bankers in prison stripes, keep in mind there is that hurdle of persuading a jury a crime was committed. It may be difficult, but is possible to do.

7/4 – Bloomberg – Guilty Ex-Barclays Trio Ends Another Libor Chapter for London Three traders were convicted of conspiracy for their efforts to manipulate Libor. The jury could not reach a verdict for two. Another trader in this particular case pleaded guilty in October 2014.

This continues a mixed bag of outcomes in London. In a major earlier case, there was one conviction (Tom Hayes) with acquittals for six of his then-alleged co-conspirators.

My count of outcomes in England based on this article (plea means a guilty plea before trial, guilty means conviction at trial, acquittal means not guilty at trial):

  • Plea – guilty – acquittal  – case
  • 0  –  1    –    6      –    earlier case (UBS and Citigroup{?})
  • 1   –  3   –    2      –    this trial (Barclays)
  • 1   –  4   –    8      –    total

That is not a particularly impressive record, especially if you are a prosecutor or you think tons of bankers are crooks.

A September 2017 trial is pending in England for 7 more traders from Barclays and Deutsch Bank. They are accused of rigging Euribor.

Article says two Rabobank traders were convicted in the US last November. They are appealing the verdict.

 

And then there are the decisions not to even pursue charges.

6/17 – New York Times – Angelo Mozilo Will Not Face U.S. Charges for Mortgage Fraud – The Angelo of Friends of Angelo will not face any civil fraud charges for his role in the mortgage crisis that was such a large part of the Great Recession. His attorney confirmed on 6/17 that after two years of investigation, the Department of Justice decided not to pursue civil charges.

The DoJ previously dropped a criminal investigation.

Countrywide was acquired by Bank of America and played a major role the costing BofA a $16.65B settlement in 2014, according to the article.

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