RP Martin pair in court to hear Libor charges

Two former RP Martin brokers appeared in court yesterday before a trial into the alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate.

Terry Farr, 41, and James Gilmour, 48, were at Southwark Crown court for a preliminary hearing. They are expected to appear again for plea hearings with the former UBS trader Tom Hayes in late October.

Mr Farr and Mr Gilmour were arrested by the City of London Police in December and charged this month with conspiracy to defraud.

Mr Hayes was charged with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud by the SFO last month. He is accused of working with employees at JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, HSBC Holdings, Rabobank, Deutsche Bank, as well as Tullett Prebon, ICAP and RP Martin over a four-year period to manipulate yen Libor rates. He has also been charged by the US Justice Department, which is running a parallel criminal investigation.

The Libor scandal has so far led to huge fines for Barclays, UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland. About 20 financial institutions have been investigated over the alleged rigging of the benchmark rates.