Latest Libor Charges Could Signal Crackdown On Traders

Nossaman Partner Tom Long is quoted in the Law360 article "Latest Libor Charges Could Signal Crackdown On Traders."  The article focuses on U.S. criminal charges against two former UBS AG traders for their roles in an alleged widespread conspiracy to rig global interest rates. Some argue that senior traders at other banks could face criminal charges in the near future.

UBS agreed to pay $1.5 billion to U.S., U.K., and Swiss authorities for its role in the Libor scandal.  Separately, the DOJ filed criminal charges against Tom Hayes and Roger Darin, two former senior traders at UBS.  The evidence against Mr. Hayes and Mr. Darin includes online chats and emails that the article claims give the DOJ and other authorities the hard evidence they need to launch criminal prosecutions against the traders.

However, this may not open the door to similar prosecutions of senior executives at UBS and other global banks.

Mr. Long is quoted as saying, "Unless you can somehow show they knew what was going on and didn't stop it, or that they reasonably should have known what was going on, it would seem to be a very difficult case to go after the senior executives."  He continues, "That might not be documented in writing, and if not, at a minimum, [the executives] have plausible deniability."