“Tom Hayes, a former trader on trial in London for alleged interest rate rigging, described the broking market he worked in as the "Wild West" with no rules and where relationships relied on lavish entertainment, a court heard on Tuesday.
The court was told that this was also a high-pressure environment, which took its toll on Hayes, prompting him to threaten brokers and pick fights with colleagues in his efforts to move interest rates to aid his trading.
The criminal trial heard how Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup yen derivatives trader, threatened to drop brokers if he felt they failed to help to persuade traders at other banks to move benchmark interest rates in directions to suit his trading book.
Hayes is the first person to stand trial on charges of alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate or Libor, used to price an estimated $450 trillion of financial contracts worldwide. British prosecutors allege Hayes was the ringmaster in a conspiracy with 25 staff from at least 10 banks and brokerages to rig the interest rate benchmark.”
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