UBS Trader Said Portrayed As Kingpin in Alleged Libor Manipulation

Bloomberg reports that Hayes, 33, was charged with wire fraud and price-fixing, the Department of Justice said in a criminal complaint unsealed yesterday. The trader and Roger Darin, a former short-term interest-rates trader at UBS whose responsibilities included the firm’s yen Libor quotes, were also charged with conspiracy. Yen Libor reflects how much banks charge each other for loans in the Japanese currency.

Hayes colluded with brokers, counterparts at other firms and his colleagues to manipulate the rate, the Justice Department said. Between 2006 and 2009, a UBS trader made at least 800 requests to the firm’s yen Libor rate-setters, about 100 to traders at other banks, and 1,200 to interdealer brokers, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which didn’t identify Hayes by name.

'Many UBS yen derivatives traders and managers were involved in the manipulative conduct and made requests to serve their own trading positions’ interests', the CFTC said. 'But the volume of unlawful requests submitted by one particular senior yen derivatives trader in Tokyo dwarfed them all'.

Hit the link below to access the complete Bloomberg article:

UBS Trader Hayes Exposed at Libor-Probe Core as E-Mails Released

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