Former Barclays Trader Found Guilty of Attempting to Manipulate Benchmark Rate Euribor

Following a three month re-trial at Southwark Crown Court, former Barclays swaps trader Carlo Palombo was sentenced to four years imprisonment at a hearing yesterday (1/4/19).

Mr Palombo was found guilty last week of attempting to manipulate Euribor for the commercial benefit of Barclays bank. Euribor is an interbank benchmark lending rate.

He was convicted by a majority decision of 10/2. A jury failed to reach a verdict last summer.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing Financial Crime Partner, John Hartley of Hodge Jones & Allen who represents 40-year-old Mr Palombo, said: “This is a very disappointing end to a very hard fought case for Carlo and his family, who are so incredibly supportive. Mr Palombo gave evidence during the trial of his time as a trader at Barclays and of the culture at the time, a decade ago. He and his family are of course devastated by the outcome and he will need some time to come to terms with this decision whilst we consider the issue of any appeal.

“Mr Palombo started at Barclays as a junior trader and was taught by his management from an early stage about making requests of the submission desk. He gave evidence during the trial that this was an ordinary course of business at the bank and there was never an issue of any of his actions being dishonest at that time and that he had received no training on Euribor submissions. No senior members of management were on trial.

“Mr Palombo’s whole team are naturally disappointed. He has been represented in court by barristers Sean Larkin QC and Benjamin Newton for the last few years.

“This was the latest trial in a series of interest rate manipulation cases brought by the SFO. The last few years have seen mixed results for the prosecutor with a handful of convictions, acquittals and several re-trials following hung juries – perhaps indicative of the complex nature of these cases and the difficulty juries experience in coming to a decision.”

Mr Palombo’s Co-defendants in the case were Colin Bermingham – also convicted by a majority decision and Sisse Bohart who was acquitted. All are former Barclays employees.