British regulators have banned a former Rabobank trader in connection with his involvement with manipulating the LIBOR interest rate benchmark.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned Paul Robson, a former trader at Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (Rabobank), from its financial services industry “for lacking honesty and integrity” after he was convicted for fraud in the U.S. for his role in a conspiracy to manipulate Rabobank’s Yen LIBOR submissions to benefit trading positions. He has yet to be sentenced in that case, and isn’t due to be until 2017.
This is the FCA’s first enforcement action against an individual trader for manipulating LIBOR submissions, although it did recently sanction two senior executives for LIBOR compliance failures. And, it has imposed £426 million in fines against firms in connection with LIBOR-related misconduct.
The FCA initiated enforcement action against Robson back in 2013, but those proceedings were stayed due to the ongoing criminal investigations. The regulator says that it is continuing to conduct wider investigations into individuals’ conduct in relation to LIBOR, and it notes that it has issued 14 warning notices to individuals.
“No excuse can be made for Mr Robson’s behaviour, which was particularly serious. He was the primary submitter of Yen LIBOR at Rabobank for a number of years and experienced in the market. He knew what he was doing was wrong. This ban reinforces our expectation that individuals and firms take responsibility for ensuring market integrity and reminds them of the consequences if they fall short of our standards,” said Georgina Philippou, acting director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA