Posted on 2015-08-10 | 12:37

Roger has welcomed the recent sentencing of trader Tom Hayes to fourteen years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud by rigging the Libor rate, and hopes it will be the first of many such convictions. However, he is concerned that the very sizeable assets accrued by Hayes from his fraudulent activities have not been seized by the court.

Hayes was paid £1.3m for the three years he spent working at UBS, and then received £3.5m for just under a year’s work at Citi. He also received a £2.2m bonus. This is money that was essentially stolen from hard-working individuals and businesses, who as a direct consequence of illegal Libor-fixing were forced to pay higher interest charges, higher mortgage rates and higher foreign exchange rates.

Commented Roger: “Why should Hayes be able to serve his sentence and then retire to enjoy large sums of money which were accrued by fraud, dishonesty and breaking the law? His behaviour was essentially a form of theft from the bank’s customers and, like any other fraudster, I do not see why he should be able to keep money which was acquired illegally.”

“I am aware that banks including UBS have already paid a significant amount in Libor-related fines, which has been given to military charities. However, I remain concerned that the individuals involved have not been subject to proceeds of crime legislation which could see their personal illegal gains seized and used directly to compensate the very large number of people who have lost out financially from Libor fixing, or to fill in some of the huge hole in public finances which was created by the banks’ irresponsible and greedy behaviour.”

Roger has written to the Justice Secretary to ask whether there will be a court order to seize Hayes’ assets, or any attempt to reclaim those assets using proceeds of crime legislation.