BERLIN: Two former Deutsche Bank traders were convicted of fraud for their roles in manipulating a benchmark interest rate, the US Justice Department announced.
The convictions of Michael Connolly, 53, of New Jersey, and Gavin Campbell Black, 48, of London, follow the bank’s 2015 settlement, in which it agreed to pay $775 million for its role fixing the London Inter-bank Offered Rate.
“Matthew Connolly and Gavin Black undermined the integrity of our financial markets by manipulating LIBOR, which is widely considered to be the most important number in the financial world because of its impact on trillions of dollars in financial products,” Brian Benczkowski, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement. Connolly and Black were convicted after a month-long trial. Two other Deutsche Bank traders had earlier pleaded guilty.
The Justice Department has charged a dozen individuals and pursued a list of hefty payouts from major banks amid a six-year scandal over Libor manipulation.
Libor is supposed to represent what banks expect to pay if they borrow from each other. But US and British authorities say traders and banks falsely inflated or lowered the rate to their advantage.
— AFP
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