Former Rabobank Traders Seek to Have US Libor Convictions Overturned

Probes into whether banks have manipulated Libor Libor Libor stands for London Inter-bank offered rate. It is an industry-specific term which most of us would never have heard of until the "Libor scandal" became popularized in 2012. Libor is considered to be one of the most important interest rates in finance, upon which trillions of financial contracts rest. The Libor rate effects over $800,000,000,000,000 in financial deals. Banks simply cannot lend money to one another whenever they like as there is a system in place. Every day a group of leading Libor stands for London Inter-bank offered rate. It is an industry-specific term which most of us would never have heard of until the "Libor scandal" became popularized in 2012. Libor is considered to be one of the most important interest rates in finance, upon which trillions of financial contracts rest. The Libor rate effects over $800,000,000,000,000 in financial deals. Banks simply cannot lend money to one another whenever they like as there is a system in place. Every day a group of leading Read this Term have led to over $9 billion in global settlements to date, with cases against financial institutions and various people in the US and UK. Barclays Bank, for example, recently paid out a further $100 million to settle manipulation claims, as reported by Finance Magnates.

This week, a US appeals court questioned whether two former Rabobank traders' rights were violated in what became the first case by US Department of Justice to go to trial following a number of global probes into the manipulation of Libor, according to a Reuters report.

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A US court deliberated over whether to overturn the 2015 convictions of Anthony Allen and Anthony Conti, two former British traders at the Dutch bank.

The traders said that their case became tainted after Paul Robson, an ex-Rabobank trader turned cooperating witness, reviewed testimony that a UK regulator urged Allen and Conti to give in a related probe.

Allen's lawyer said that may have influenced information provided by Robson to US authorities or at trial, causing their statements to be used against them in violation of the US Constitution.

The judge questioned how the court could be sure that this did not happen, since no record exists of what Robson would have said in connection with any wrongdoings.

He commented: "He may have actually seen it, but we have a record where he did not actually testify to it until after he had been exposed to the immunized testimony.”

Prosecutors reportedly took steps to ensure that the case did not become tainted although it was acknowledged in court that such caution was unnecessary since a foreign government obtained the testimony.

Libor, the London interbank offered rate, underpins trillions of dollars of financial products and is based on what banks believe they would pay if they borrowed from other banks.

Allen, Rabobank's former global head of Liquidity Liquidity The term liquidity refers to the process, speed, and ease of which a given asset or security can be converted into cash. Notably, liquidity surmises a retention in market price, with the most liquid assets representing cash.The most liquid asset of all is cash itself.· In economics, liquidity is defined by how efficiently and quickly an asset can be converted into usable cash without materially affecting its market price. · Nothing is more liquid than cash, while other assets represent The term liquidity refers to the process, speed, and ease of which a given asset or security can be converted into cash. Notably, liquidity surmises a retention in market price, with the most liquid assets representing cash.The most liquid asset of all is cash itself.· In economics, liquidity is defined by how efficiently and quickly an asset can be converted into usable cash without materially affecting its market price. · Nothing is more liquid than cash, while other assets represent Read this Term and finance, and Conti, a former senior trader, were indicted a year after Rabobank in 2013 reached a $1 billion deal to resolve US and European probes.

A jury convicted them on conspiracy and wire fraud charges in 2015 for participating in a scheme to rig the US dollar and yen Libor rates. They were sentenced to two years and one year in prison, respectively.