Anthony Allen, LIBOR Manipulation, New York 2023

Two former Rabobank traders have been convicted of manipulating the London InterBank Offered Rates (LIBOR) for the U.S. Dollar (USD) and the Yen, benchmark interest rates to which trillions of dollars in interest rate contracts were tied. Five former Rabobank employees have now been convicted in the Rabobank LIBOR investigation.

Anthony Allen, 44, of Hertsfordshire, England, and Anthony Conti, 46, of Essex, England, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and substantive counts of wire fraud. The convictions come after a four-week trial in the Southern District of New York.

LIBOR serves as the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates globally and is used as a reference rate for many interest rate contracts, mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other consumer lending products. Rabobank invested in various derivatives contracts that were directly affected by the relevant LIBOR rates on a certain dates. If the relevant LIBOR moved in the direction favorable to the defendants’ positions, Rabobank and the defendants benefitted at the expense of the counterparties.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said, “Today’s verdicts illustrate the successful efforts to hold accountable bank executives responsible for this global fraud scheme. This investigation—which also resulted in the recent conviction of a bank executive in the U.K.—exemplifies the work with international partners to protect global markets from fraud.”

Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer added, “The department will continue to pursue aggressively those involved in illegal schemes that undermine the integrity of financial markets. And we will hold individuals criminally accountable for directing illegal corporate behavior.”

Anthony Allen and Anthony Conti are scheduled to be sentenced on a date to be determined.

This is not the first time Rabobank has been involved in a LIBOR scandal. In 2013, the bank agreed to pay $1 billion in fines to settle charges of manipulating LIBOR and other benchmark interest rates.

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