Despite the setback, the two men have a narrow window of opportunity, with 14 days to petition for permission to appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court.
Hayes, undeterred, vowed to challenge the ruling, with his lawyer, Karen Todner, affirming the case’s significance and advocating for its consideration by the highest echelons of British jurisprudence.
The ruling comes after a riveting three-day hearing where Hayes’ legal team contended that the trial judge had deprived him of a fair jury trial. Hayes, previously convicted of conspiring to rig Libor, received an 11-year prison sentence in 2015, while Palombo, found guilty of rigging Euribor, faced a four-year sentence in 2019.
Both rates, Libor and Euribor, held monumental sway, influencing trillions of pounds in financial products.
The convoluted legal saga took a global turn as Hayes’ alleged co-conspirators were cleared of similar charges in the U.S., leaving the U.K. as the sole jurisdiction where their actions remained criminal.
In a contentious argument, Hayes contested the judge’s characterization of his rates as “false,” arguing that the judge’s instructions to jurors had prejudiced his case. However, Justice Bean stood firm, asserting that Hayes’ attempts to obfuscate his actions and subsequent admissions of dishonesty spoke volumes.
