Court of Appeal quashes convictions of five former Barclays traders in Libor and Euribor cases
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday quashed the convictions of five former Barclays traders jailed over Libor and Euribor rate-rigging. The Serious Fraud Office did not oppose the appeals, and full reasons are to follow.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2The Court of Appeal on Wednesday 7 October 2026 quashed the convictions of five former Barclays traders: Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham. BBC NewsN “But their convictions were quashed on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal.” Read at BBC News ↗ City A.M.RC “the convictions of Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham, all former Barclays traders, were overturned.” Read at City A.M. ↗ Mixed · 2They had been convicted after trials for manipulating interest rates, in Libor and Euribor-related offences, and were jailed. BBC NewsN “were convicted following trials for manipulating the interest rates used for loans between banks.” Read at BBC News ↗ City A.M.RC “previously convicted of Libor and Euribor-related offences” Read at City A.M. ↗ Right · 1Lord Justice Edis said on Wednesday morning that the convictions would be quashed, with full reasons to be set out later. City A.M.RC “Lord Justice Edis said on Wednesday morning that the five former traders’ convictions will be quashed, with full reasons to be set out later.” Read at City A.M. ↗
Mixed · 2The ruling follows the Supreme Court's overturning last year of the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, which paved the way for others to appeal. City A.M.RC “after the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo last year” Read at City A.M. ↗ BBC NewsN “which has paved the way for others to appeal.” Read at BBC News ↗ Right · 1The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the cases to the court on 29 January 2026, after the Serious Fraud Office, which brought the prosecutions over a decade ago, said it would not seek a retrial against Hayes and Palombo. City A.M.RC “The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred cases to the court on 29 January 2026 after the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which brought the prosecutions over a decade ago, said it would not seek a retrial against Hayes and Palombo.” Read at City A.M. ↗ Right · 1Jason Williams, head of division at the SFO, said the agency did not oppose the five appeals after considering the judgment and the full circumstances. He said the Supreme Court had found ample evidence on which a properly directed jury could have convicted Hayes and Palombo, and that retrials were not in the public interest. City A.M.RC “we do not oppose the appeals of five individuals convicted by juries in relation to Libor and Euribor.”“We deemed it was not in the public interest to seek retrials of these two individuals.” Read at City A.M. ↗
Right · 1Mathew said the quashing was about "finally having validation that this is an injustice that never should have happened". Tom Bushnell of Hickman & Rose, representing the traders, said the SFO must reflect on how its "repeated failure to ensure these trials were conducted fairly contributed to the collapse of its most significant series of prosecutions of the past fifteen years". City A.M.RC “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.”“must reflect on how its repeated failure to ensure these trials were conducted fairly contributed to the collapse of its most significant series of prosecutions of the past fifteen years.” Read at City A.M. ↗ Right · 1The Court of Appeal has yet to consider the appeal of Christian Bittar of Deutsche Bank, who argues his conviction should be overturned even though the SFO contends it is safe. City A.M.RC “The Court of Appeal still has yet to consider the appeal of Christian Bittar, who worked at Deutsche Bank.” Read at City A.M. ↗ Centre · 1Prosecutors had cast the traders as a symbol of banker greed amid the public anger of the 2008 financial crisis, and the BBC described the case as one of the biggest scandals of the financial crisis. BBC NewsN “The traders were cast by prosecutors as a symbol of banker greed amid public backlash and anger during the 2008 financial crisis.”“jailed in one of the biggest scandals of the financial crisis” Read at BBC News ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- BBC News leads on the quashing as the end of a long-running legal battle over one of the biggest scandals of the financial crisis, with context on public anger at bankers.
- Emphasis
- The scale of the scandal, the jail terms and the way earlier overturned convictions opened the door to appeals.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Gives no SFO response, no comments from the traders or their lawyers, no mention of Christian Bittar's pending appeal and no detail of the legal grounds.
Right1 outlet
- Framing
- City A.M. runs a procedural, legal-process account built around the SFO's decision not to oppose and the statements of the traders' lawyers.
- Emphasis
- The SFO's statement, the CCRC referral date, Lord Justice Edis's announcement, Mathew's and Bushnell's quotes and Bittar's pending appeal.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not describe the sentences served or the public anger over the financial crisis that the BBC emphasises.
What every side reports
- The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of Merchant, Mathew, Moryoussef, Pabon and Bermingham on Wednesday.
- The five were former Barclays traders convicted over manipulation of benchmark interest rates.
- The ruling followed the overturning of Tom Hayes's and Carlo Palombo's convictions last year.
Court of Appeal organisation
Announced the convictions will be quashed, with full reasons to follow.
“with full reasons to be set out later.” — City A.M.
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre1 article
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Former Barclays traders have rate-rigging convictions quashed
Neutral Brief report presenting the quashing as the end of a long legal fight over a symbol of the financial crisis.
Right1 article
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Former City traders’ fraud convictions overturned
Neutral Detailed procedural report giving the SFO's and the traders' lawyers' statements, with weight on the SFO's failures as argued by the defence.
- 7 Oct 12:46 First BBC NewsN Former Barclays traders have rate-rigging convictions quashed
- 7 Oct 13:45 +1h City A.M.RC Former City traders’ fraud convictions overturned
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.