UK-based interdealer broker, Tullett Prebon Plc (LON:TLPR), has just acknowledged that the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday issued criminal proceedings against Noel Cryan, a former employee of the group, in connection with the manipulation of Libor . Tullett Prebon states that it will continue to cooperate fully with the Financial Conduct Authority and other regulators and government agencies in connection with their investigations.
On Tuesday the SFO charged Mr. Cryan with conspiracy to commit fraud between February and December 2009. This has raised the number of traders and brokers charged in the UK with relation to the manipulation of the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate to thirteen. Former staffers at rival brokerages ICAP and RP Martin have already faced charges.
The LIBOR investigations have been ongoing for years now and combined with the recent charges against two former Rabobank employees by the US, the number of those charged in the matter is now eighteen. Three have already pleaded guilty and high profile trials are expected to start next year.
Mr. Cryan is the first former Tullett Prebon employee known to face charges from the British criminal prosecutors. He was dismissed in September 2013 for gross misconduct after twenty years at the firm. According to court documents, Mr. Cryan has previously that despite evidence from chats with a UBS trader, he has never asked anyone at Tullett Prebon to “influence Libor in any way.”
Beyond charging personally involved individuals in the LIBOR manipulation, regulators from Europe and the US have also fined ten major banks and global brokerages more than $6 billion to date to settle out of court on related matters. The banks are also finding themselves having to dedicate more and more funds as investigators reveal manipulation cases of FX rates as well.
