Tom Hayes trial: Former trader 'allowed to keep £2.2m bonus after Citigroup sacking'

 
Former trader: Tom Hayes is accused of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud
Robin de Peyer2 June 2015
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Former trader Tom Hayes was allowed to keep a £2.2 million bonus when he was sacked from Citigroup for allegedly trying to fix Libor rates, a court has heard.

The money was part of his welcome package when he started at the firm in December 2009 - but he was sacked just months later.

Hayes began trading for the company in February 2010. His total income, including salary and incentives, for December 2009 was £1,967,249.91 while he took home £1,545,001.21 between January and September 2010, Southwark Crown Court was told.

A special committee at Citigroup carried out an investigation into the claims before sacking Hayes in September 2010.

Passages from his termination letter were read out to the court where Hayes, 35, of Fleet, Hampshire, has denied eight counts of conspiracy to defraud between 2006 and 2010.

Citigroup executives told Hayes they had "uncovered that you attempted to manipulate Yen Libor and Tibor (the Tokyo rate) rates in order to benefit your trading position".

It states that Hayes "improperly attempted to influence" Citbank's Yen Libor submission and also "communicated with individuals" at other banks in a plot to "influence the Yen Libor and Tibor submission process generally".

Hayes wrote back to deny the claims and said he was "extremely disappointed" by the firm's decision. He argued that the decision to sack him was made "without ever properly explaining to me the accusation or the evidence underpinning these accusations".

He also said he was "disappointed" that he did not have a chance to respond and defend himself at a "proper hearing".

Prosecutors claim that Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup trader, was motivated by greed and acted as the "ringmaster" in an enormous fraud to rig the benchmark Libor interest rate.

Hayes denies the claims and the trial continues.

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