Colin Goodman, Danny Wilkinson, Noel Cryan, Terry Farr and James Gilmour were found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud related to the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor). The jury continues to deliberate charges against Darrell Read.

‘Hypocrisy’

Matthew Frankland of Byrne and Partners acted for Mr Wilkinson and commented that there is a ‘hypocrisy’ in charging brokers, as they do not work for banks, play ‘no part’ in the Libor submission process and aren’t regulated by the British Bankers’ Association in relation to their Libor predictions.

Seen as a setback

The result will be viewed as a setback for the SFO, which had had a series of successful prosecutions and finished 2015 with its first plea-deal deferred prosecution agreement in a high-profile bribery case. However, director of the SFO David Green QC said: ‘Nobody could sensibly suggest that these charges should not have been brought and considered by a jury.’ Sources: The Law Society Gazette; BBC News