Five former Barclays traders, who were sentenced in connection with one of the biggest scandals of the financial crisis, have had their convictions overturned following a lengthy legal battle.
Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Bermingham were convicted in trials for manipulating the interest rates used for interbank loans. However, their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. This decision follows the overturning of convictions for two other former City traders last year, which opened the door for others to appeal.
Prosecutors had portrayed the traders as symbols of banker greed amidst public backlash and anger during the 2008 financial crisis.
Merchant, Mathew, Pabon, and Bermingham had all served various jail terms. Moryoussef was sentenced in his absence in 2018 and never returned to the UK to serve his sentence after France refused to extradite him.
The prosecutions related to the manipulation of two key interest rate mechanisms: Libor and Euribor. At the time, these rates were used to set borrowing costs for a range of loans, including mortgages and car finance.
Mathew stated that the "strain" of his experience had been a burden for the past 10 years. "Having this conviction quashed is not simply about correcting the record, it's about finally having validation that this is an injustice that never should have happened," the 45-year-old said. "I now have two children and this means a great deal to have the record corrected for their sake as well."
Merchant, 55, added that he looked forward to moving on with his life, but said part of that would be "ensuring that those responsible for what happened are held fully accountable".
Lord Justice Edis indicated that the full reasons behind the overturned convictions would be provided later on Wednesday.
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The financial crisis began in 2008, sending significant economic shockwaves globally and triggering recessions in numerous countries. There was a public backlash against bankers, who were widely blamed for the crisis, while the financial sector received taxpayer-funded bailouts.
The Libor scandal surfaced in 2012 when it was revealed that, at the onset of the financial crisis, banks had misrepresented their positions during the process of setting the lending rate, which helped to boost profits and mask difficulties.
Approximately 19 City traders were convicted in the US and UK between 2015 and 2019 across nine criminal trials held in London and New York.
Each of the former Barclays traders involved in Wednesday's successful appeal had originally been convicted of a single count of conspiracy to defraud, stemming from alleged attempts to influence financial benchmark rates.
Two other bankers have already had their names cleared.
Tom Hayes, a former trader at Swiss bank UBS, was the first banker to be jailed. He won a 10-year legal battle last year to have his conviction overturned at the Supreme Court in July 2025. His victory, along with that of fellow trader Carlo Palombo, who was jailed in 2019, paved the way for others to challenge their convictions.
Hayes and Palombo argued that they were wrongly prosecuted for what were normal commercial practices, intended to appease public anger towards banks over the financial crisis.
Pabon, 48, whose name was cleared on Wednesday, praised Hayes for his refusal to "let it go." He had "pushed this through" for the rest of them, Pabon stated.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the original case against the traders, has not opposed the appeals.
Barclays bank has been contacted for comment.
The latest ruling means that only two traders still have convictions related to interest rate rigging: former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar and former Barclays trader Peter Johnson.
Bittar was jailed in 2018 after pleading guilty and served two years in prison. He is scheduled to challenge his conviction on October 9.
Johnson was the original whistleblower who brought attention to the Libor scandal but pleaded guilty on the advice that he had little chance of winning at trial. He also hopes to appeal.
