Former Barclays Trader Says Bosses Knew About Libor Fixing

Jay Merchant, one of five ex-Barclays traders accused of rigging benchmark interest rates, has claimed that three of his bosses must have known that traders were making requests to manipulate Libor , despite their earlier denials of any knowledge of the rate-setting process.

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Finance Magnates recently reported that Merchant had named a trio of senior Barclays executives who were aware of the manipulation practices on the rates trading desk during a hearing in April 2016.

Merchant said at the London trial that he found it "difficult to believe" that former Global Head of Fixed Income, Eric Bommensath, Chief Operating Officer Mike Bagguley, and another executive, Harry Harrison, didn’t know what the Swaps desk traders were doing.

According to Merchant: “Bagguley trained me up and was making requests from my first days on the desk. Harrison definitely knew we were doing it on a regular basis and he approved it."

The three supervisors have denied any knowledge of the requests.

Merchant and four of his colleagues, Stylianos Contogoulas, Jonathan Mathew, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich, are alleged to have conspired to rig the London interbank offered rate (Libor), a benchmark tied to trillions of dollars in securities and loans.

The case continues.