LIBOR trader Tom Hayes ordered to pay £879k

Hayes was convicted of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud in August 2015 and sentenced to 14 years in prison, later reduced to 11 years on appeal.

Mr Justice Cooke, who oversaw the trial and confiscation proceedings, found that Hayes would not have been rated as highly as he was by UBS and Citi if he had not achieved success in the manipulation of LIBOR and therefore would not have been rewarded as highly as he was but for that activity.

Mr Justice Cooke agreed with the SFO that it cannot be known what the LIBOR would have been but for the defendant’s attempts to manipulate it. In deciding on the extent of the criminal benefit, the Judge evaluated, the extent to which Hayes’ attempt to manipulate LIBOR had on his overall trading activities and the impact this would have had on the profit/loss position of his employers and the effect that this had on his remuneration.

Mr Justice Cooke concluded that the final amount to be confiscated is the sum of £878,806. The total available assets are in the sum of £1,705,167.56.

Hayes must satisfy the order within a specified period or incur a default prison sentence of three years.

Mark Thompson, Head of the SFO’s Proceeds of Crime Division, said:

“The court acknowledged the challenges of quantifying the benefit from crime in this case. The SFO provided the court with all the available information and the outcome is a substantial confiscation order, which Mr Hayes will need to satisfy or face a further period of imprisonment.”