Ex-Deutsche Bank top trader's rate-rigging conviction quashed
DB•A London appeals court quashed former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar’s conviction for conspiring to manipulate Euribor, despite his 2018 guilty plea. He had been sentenced to five years and four months.
1. Appeal overturns conviction
The Court of Appeal quashed Bittar’s conviction on Friday. He said he had waited a very long time for the day and that the injustice he and others suffered had been recognised. The Serious Fraud Office said it respected the court’s decision.
2. Rate-rigging cases unravel
Bittar is the first person convicted of manipulating Euribor or Libor to have a conviction overturned after pleading guilty. His lawyer argued that the plea rested on legal errors because prosecutors were not required to prove that Bittar had agreed to the submission of false or misleading Euribor rates. Eight of the SFO’s rate-rigging convictions have now been overturned.
