Carlo Palombo, a convicted rate-rigger, could be cleared after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred his case to the Court of Appeal.
The former Barclays trader was convicted for conspiracy to defraud by rigging the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) from 2005 to 2009. He was then sentenced to four years of prison following his conviction in March 2019.
Palombo’s fresh shot at an appeal stemmed from his application to the CCRC in July 2023. This was the same day that the CCRC publicised it would be referring a similar conviction for an appeal regarding the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which was that of Tom Hayes.
Last year, as reported by the Law Society Gazette, a New York judge dismissed Hayes’ case in relation to his rigging LIBOR stating that there was ‘no provable case’. This came after the US Court quashed the convictions of two other former traders convicted under similar circumstances.
In the announcement, CCRC chairman Helen Pitcher OBE said, ‘Following on from the Hayes referral and bearing in mind the similarity of issues we have concluded that the Court of Appeal will consider the EURIBOR rules in the same way, reasoning by close analogy with the US Court decision.’
Palombo’s lawyer, quoted in the FT, highlights that the similarities with Hayes’ case are ‘so strong that we hope that the Court of Appeal will consider both cases together’.
In a statement reported by the FT, Palombo said ‘I went to prison for conduct that nobody at the time thought was prohibited, let alone criminal; which was normal business practice and directed by my bosses; and which the people who created Euribor said was permitted. Had I done what I did anywhere in the world other than the UK, I would never have been convicted.’