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Christian Bittar, a former trader at Deutsche Bank, had his conviction for rigging interest rates overturned this week, joining seven others whose convictions were also quashed. This comes after similar cases involving traders from Barclays and other banks, who were convicted of conspiring to defraud by manipulating key financial benchmarks like Euribor and Libor. The Supreme Court’s previous ruling in favor of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo paved the way for these acquittals due to issues with trial instructions that deprived defendants of a fair trial. Bittar expressed relief at the recognition of his long-standing injustice, while his lawyer criticized the Serious Fraud Office's handling of the cases.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Court of Appeal in the UK has overturned the conviction of Christian Bittar, a former Deutsche Bank trader who was jailed in 2018 for "manipulating" the Euribor benchmark interest rate. This decision comes on the heels of similar rulings that exonerated five other former Barclays bankers earlier this week. Bittar, watching proceedings via video link from Switzerland because he did not receive a visa to attend court in person, expressed relief at having his name cleared after years of legal battles. The financial crisis beginning in 2008 led to public scrutiny and backlash against bankers involved in rate rigging, with numerous convictions handed out over the past decade. However, recent rulings by the UK supreme court have identified flaws in earlier trials that led to unfair instructions given to juries, setting off a wave of appeals and reversals.
Written for “Rates Rigging Conviction Overturned” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 68759 · logged 2026-10-09
Former City trader Christian Bittar has become the eighth person to have his conviction for rigging interest rates quashed, just days after five other former bankers also successfully cleared their names.
asserted
bankers → become → names
Christian Bittar, who previously worked for Deutsche Bank, was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy to defraud.
asserted
who → work → conspiracy
On Wednesday, the court overturned the convictions of Jay Vijay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham, all of whom worked at Barclays.
asserted
all → overturn → Barclays
This week’s acquittals come just over a year after the UK supreme court overturned a decade-old ruling against the former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes and former Barclays trader Carlo Palombo.
asserted
court → come → UBS
Their victory opened the door for the other traders to challenge their convictions.
asserted
traders → open → convictions
Bittar said after his acquittal: “I have waited a very, very long time for this day.
asserted
I → say → day
Finally, the injustice of what I and others suffered has been recognised.
asserted
I → suffer → what
I am so grateful for those who stood by me through this ordeal and those who worked so tirelessly to correct it.”
asserted
who → stand → it
Bittar and the five other former traders were all sentenced to jail on charges of manipulating the euro interbank offered rate (Euribor) or the now defunct London interbank offered rate (Libor).
asserted
Bittar → sentence → rate
The Euribor and Libor rates affected the value of ordinary people’s pensions, mortgages and savings, as well as hundreds of trillions of pounds and euros worth of financial products around the world.
asserted
rates → affect → world
Nine bankers accused of rigging the rates were given fraud convictions.
asserted
bankers → accuse → convictions
The supreme court overturned the convictions of Hayes and Palombo after finding faults in the original trials, ruling that trial judges had given “inaccurate and unfair” instructions to the juries, that had ultimately “deprived” the men a fair trial.
asserted
that → overturn → trial
Friday’s ruling marks a further blow for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the original charges against the former traders.
asserted
which → mark → traders
While the SFO did not contest the appeals of the five men acquitted on Wednesday, it did contest Bittar’s appeal, stating his conviction was safe.
asserted
conviction → contest → appeal
Jason Williams, head of division at the SFO, said: “We argued for a different outcome but respect the court’s decision in relation to Christian Bittar.
asserted
We → say → Bittar
The SFO remains committed to tackling the most complex fraud, bribery and corruption.”
asserted
SFO → remain → fraud
Ben Rose of law firm Hickman and Rose, who represented Bittar, said it was a “scandal that the SFO has consistently failed to uphold its duty to ensure that these trials are fair”.
asserted
trials → represent → duty
Peter Johnson, the ninth former trader who was convicted of rate rigging, also intends to appeal against his conviction.
asserted
who → convict → conviction
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate Libor in 2014.
asserted
He → plead → 2014
Ellen Gallagher, a partner at Vardags, who represents Johnson, said: “Peter’s fight to clear his name continues.
“As the court made clear today, he has taken the first steps towards that appeal by filing provisional grounds.”
asserted
he → represent → grounds
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