Appeal court quashes Bittar's Euribor conviction even though he had pleaded guilty
Christian Bittar, formerly of Deutsche Bank, had his Euribor conviction quashed days after the Court of Appeal cleared five ex-Barclays traders. He had pleaded guilty, so the ruling bears directly on former Barclays trader Peter Johnson, who also pleaded guilty and has begun his own appeal.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
Peter Johnson, the only former trader still convicted, pleaded guilty and has applied to appeal. Tom Hayes is seeking damages from his former employer UBS. Lawyers and senior politicians press the Bank of England and Treasury to release records on their crisis-era role in rate rigging.
- Who has to decide decision Peter Johnson Only former trader still convicted; pleaded guilty on advice he had little chance at trial, and has applied to appeal, claim 10
- Who's exposed exposure UBS Tom Hayes, initially sentenced to 14 years, reduced on appeal to 11, is seeking damages from his former employer, claim 19
- Who's exposed exposure Bank of England and Treasury Lawyers and senior politicians press them to release all records on their own roles in rate 'rigging' in the financial crisis, claim 20
| Who | How | Kind | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Johnson | Only former trader still convicted; pleaded guilty on advice he had little chance at trial, and has applied to appeal | decision | 10 |
| UBS | Tom Hayes, initially sentenced to 14 years, reduced on appeal to 11, is seeking damages from his former employer | exposure | 19 |
| Bank of England and Treasury | Lawyers and senior politicians press them to release all records on their own roles in rate 'rigging' in the financial crisis | exposure | 20 |
What happened
- Bittar argued he had pleaded guilty on the wrong legal basis, and brought his appeal after the Supreme Court cleared Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo last year.
- The five Barclays traders had all pleaded not guilty, and their cases reached the court on a January referral after the Serious Fraud Office declined to retry Hayes and Palombo.
- Of 19 traders convicted in the US and UK between 2015 and 2019 across nine trials, 18 have now been acquitted, the BBC reported.
- The BBC counts 37 City traders and brokers prosecuted over Libor and Euribor, benchmarks used to set rates on millions of mortgages and commercial loans.
Why it matters
- What it sets up precedent A conviction entered on a guilty plea has now been set aside, giving Johnson's appeal and any plea struck on the 2015 footing a direct precedent whose reach depends on the court's still-unpublished reasons.
- What it limits constraint With the reasons deferred, these rulings do not yet tell a bank what its rate submitters may lawfully weigh, so desk rules on benchmark submissions cannot be redrawn on them this quarter.
- Who's exposed exposure Banks that employed the cleared traders face follow-on civil claims, and Hayes's damages action against UBS shows the route is already in use.
- Who's exposed exposure Scrutiny is moving from individual traders to the authorities, with the Bank of England and the Treasury now under pressure from lawyers and senior politicians to open their crisis-era records.
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The trials shared a legal premise set in 2015. At Tom Hayes's trial that year, Mr Justice Jeremy Cooke decided as a matter of law that any attempt to influence the rates could not be lawful [16]. Any rate influenced by commercial interest, he ruled, must automatically be false [16]. Judges in the subsequent eight trials followed suit, according to the BBC [17]. When the Supreme Court cleared Hayes and Carlo Palombo last year, it found they had been "deprived" of a fair trial because the juries were given "inaccurate and unfair" directions, City AM reported [5].
That premise shaped pleas as well as verdicts. A defendant had to weigh a guilty plea against a trial in which the jury would be directed that any commercially influenced rate was false [16]. Peter Johnson, the original whistleblower in the scandal, pleaded guilty on advice that he had little chance of winning at trial, the BBC reported [10]. He was sentenced to four years [11]. Bittar, jailed in 2018 [1], also pleaded guilty and served five years [3].
Whether this week's rulings remove the basis for holding individuals liable over benchmark submissions is a wider question than the record answers. In my view the narrower reading holds for now. What has fallen is one test of falsity, along with the convictions that rested on it. Lord Justice Edis told the court: "For reasons we will set out at a later date, this conviction has been quashed." [4] Neither report sets out the test the courts would now apply to a rate submission influenced by commercial interest.
The longer-running question concerns the state's own conduct. The BBC says it has uncovered evidence of a much larger, state-led 'rigging' of rates under pressure from central banks and governments [22]. It reports that evidence implicating Downing Street and the Bank of England was suppressed throughout the criminal trials [22]. David Davis, the former Conservative cabinet minister, said those exonerated were victims of scapegoating that arose from the government's own misbehaviour in falsely understating Libor rates itself, done to try to rescue the economy after a crash in the late 2000s that he said the government had brought on itself [21].
The Court of Appeal quashed six convictions in one week [18]. Bittar followed Friday's hearing by video link from Switzerland because he was not granted a visa to attend [15]. Bittar said: "Finally the injustice of what I and others suffered has been recognised." [12] His barrister told the court it was "quite something to be here today in the last chapter of it" [13].
What to watch
- Publication of the Court of Appeal's reasons in Bittar, to see whether the plea point rests on the Supreme Court's jury-direction finding or on something wider.
- The hearing of Peter Johnson's appeal against his guilty-plea conviction and four-year sentence.
- Whether the Bank of England and the Treasury release records on their own role in setting rates during the crisis.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence76
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives45
- Confidence72
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers- Builder
- Builder 10%
- Operator
- Operator 49%
- Investor
- Investor 41%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Christian Bittar, a former Deutsche Bank trader who went to prison in 2018 for 'manipulating' the Euribor benchmark interest rate.
- [2]
The same UK court overturned five convictions of ex-Barclays bankers in the rate rigging trials earlier the same week.
- [3]
Bittar's conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal on Friday after he served five years in prison for rigging Euribor; he had previously pleaded guilty to the charge.
- [4]
"For reasons we will set out at a later date, this conviction has been quashed."
- [5]
The Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo last year after finding they had been "deprived" of a fair trial because judges had given "inaccurate and unfair" directions to the juries.
- [6]
Five former Barclays traders, Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham, all of whom pleaded not guilty, had their fraud convictions for rigging Libor and Euribor overturned by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
- [7]
Bittar claimed in his appeal that he had pleaded guilty on the wrong legal basis, and brought the appeal after the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo.
- [8]
The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the cases to the court in January after the Serious Fraud Office, which brought the prosecutions, said it would not seek a retrial against Hayes and Palombo.
- [9]
Some 19 City traders were convicted in the US and UK between 2015 and 2019 across nine criminal trials held in London and New York; eighteen of these have now been acquitted.
- [10]
Peter Johnson, a former Barclays trader and one of the original whistleblowers, is the only former trader who remains convicted; he pleaded guilty on advice that he had little chance at winning at trial, and has applied to appeal.
- [11]
Peter Johnson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison; Lord Justice Edis confirmed his appeal is in its early stages.
- [12]
"Finally the injustice of what I and others suffered has been recognised."
- [13]
"Some of us lived that history. It's quite something to be here today in the last chapter of it."
- [14]
The traders were among 37 City traders and brokers prosecuted for 'manipulating' Libor and Euribor, benchmarks used to set the interest rates on millions of mortgages and commercial loans.
- [15]
Bittar watched the proceedings via video link from Switzerland because he was not granted a visa to attend court.
- [16]
In 2015, during the first rate-rigging trial, of Tom Hayes, Mr Justice Jeremy Cooke decided as a matter of law that any attempt to influence the rates could not be lawful, and that any rate influenced by commercial interest must automatically be false.
- [17]
Judges in the subsequent eight trials followed Mr Justice Cooke's ruling.
- [18]
The Court of Appeal quashed six rate-rigging convictions in one week: five on Wednesday and Bittar's on Friday.
- [19]
Tom Hayes, initially sentenced to 14 years, reduced on appeal to 11, is now seeking damages from his former employer UBS.
- [20]
Lawyers and senior politicians are pressing the Bank of England and the Treasury to release all their records about their own roles in interest rate 'rigging' during the financial crisis.
- [21]
"the victims of a scapegoating exercise which arose as a result of the government's own misbehaviour in lowballing [falsely understating] Libor interest rates themselves, in order to try and rescue the economy after their own self-induced crash in the late 2000s"
- [22]
The BBC says it has uncovered evidence of a much larger, state-led 'rigging' of interest rates under pressure from central banks and governments, and that evidence implicating Downing Street and the Bank of England was suppressed throughout the criminal trials.
Sources
4 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- bbc.co.ukEx-Deutsche Bank trader jailed for rigging rates has conviction overturned
1 article · October 9, 2026
- cityam.comFormer City trader’s rate rigging conviction overturned
1 article · October 9, 2026
- cryptopolitan.comBittar’s Euribor conviction quashed in fresh blow to the SFO
1 article · October 9, 2026
- theguardian.comChristian Bittar has conviction for rigging interest rates quashed
1 article · October 9, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- UK criminal appeals
- Benchmark rate manipulation
Entities
- Serious Fraud Office
- Bank of England
- Christian Bittar
- UK Supreme Court
- Criminal Cases Review Commission
- Deutsche Bank
- UBS
- Barclays Plc