Barclays Former Traders Convictions Quashed Over LIBOR Manipulation
London’s Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of five former Barclays traders, marking a significant legal retreat in the United Kingdom’s landmark prosecutions stemming from the global financial crisis. Jay Merchant, Jonathan Matthew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Birmingham saw their verdicts overturned after the Serious Fraud Office chose not to contest the appeals.
Overturned Verdicts at the Court of Appeal
The Wednesday ruling extends the legal impact of a July 2025 decision by the UK Supreme Court. In that earlier case, justices cleared two other individuals: Tom Hayes, a former trader at Citigroup and UBS, and Carlo Palombo, a former Barclays employee. Andrew Edis, a judge at the Court of Appeal, stated that the Supreme Court judgment applied directly to the remaining five defendants and effectively decided the appeals.
The Serious Fraud Office decided last year that the Supreme Court ruling applied equally to the remaining five appellants. The prosecution did not contest the challenge.
The LIBOR Manipulation Prosecutions
The traders faced prosecution over allegations of manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate and its euro counterpart, Euribor. These benchmark rates dictated borrowing costs across a wide spectrum of financial products, stretching from residential mortgages to car loans. Following years of scandals, LIBOR was abolished by the end of 2024.
Jonathan Matthew, now 45, was convicted alongside Alex Pabon and Jay Merchant in 2016 for conspiracy to defraud, receiving sentences ranging from two to six and a half years. Philippe Moryoussef, a senior trader based in London, received an eight-year prison sentence in 2018, though he never served time after France refused his extradition. Colin Birmingham received a five-year sentence following his conviction in 2019.
Five Men Address Personal Cost of Legal Battle
In a statement distributed through a publicist ahead of the formal court announcement, the five men addressed the personal cost of the decade-long legal battle. Matthew described the stigma of a conviction as a daily burden.
この有罪判決が破棄されることは、単に記録を正すということではなく、これが決して起きるべきではなかった不正義であったことが、ようやく認められたということなのです
Moryoussef, 58, stated that he lost his career, reputation, and income. Merchant, 55, expressed relief at moving forward while adding that he wanted to ensure responsible parties faced accountability.
The Path from Supreme Court Precedent to Acquittal
The 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling determined that previous convictions were unsafe due to misdirections given to juries. Following that decision, the Serious Fraud Office reviewed the cases of the remaining five traders. Jason Williams, head of the fraud office’s division, noted that his team reached their position after carefully reviewing the Supreme Court judgment and the overall circumstances of the cases.
These prosecutions originated during the post-crisis backlash, when authorities positioned the conduct of bankers as symbolic of widespread excess. The LIBOR scandal resulted in multiple prison sentences and billions of dollars in regulatory penalties against major international financial institutions across the United States, Europe, and Asia.