InvestmentsMar 16 2018

Former Deutsche trader pleads guilty to rate rigging

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Former Deutsche trader pleads guilty to rate rigging

A former trader at Deutsche Bank has pleaded guilty to fixing the European Inter Bank Offered Rate (Euribor).

Christian Bittar was due to go on trial but entered a guilty plea instead. Six others will be tried for the offence at Southwark Crown Court in April.

Until 2011 Bittar had worked at Deutsche Bank's London and Singapore offices.

According to our sister publication the Financial Times, German regulators found Deutsche Bank's former co-chief executive, Anshu Jain, had personally lobbied for bonuses totalling €130m (£114m) for Bittar and another trader, which the bank has denied.

The Euribor rate is the interest rate at which European banks borrow from each other and is the European equivalent of Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate.

At the end of each business day, banks report to the central bank the rate at which they can borrow, and are willing to lend to, other commercial banks on a short-term basis. The average of all of the submissions becomes the official rate.

This rate is then used to price the interest rate charged on a variety of everyday transactions, such as personal and commercial loans.

Bittar entered his guilty plea for conspiracy to defraud on 2 March, but reporting restrictions were in place until now.  

david.thorpe@ft.com