£1m Bail Security For Euribor Accused Trader

Christian Bittar, 44, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court. He is accused along with ten other people of conspiracy to defraud between 2005 and  2009.

The accused – six from Deutsche Bank, four from Barclays and one from Societe Generale – are the first to face criminal proceedings as result of an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the alleged manipulation of the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor).

Euribor is a benchmark interest rate similar to Libor. These are interbank lending rates calculated using submissions from panel banks. Euribor is used as the basis for billions of pounds' worth of financial products.

It is alleged that there was collusion to manipulate rates between separate banks, as well as collusion between people at the same bank.

Six of the 11 accused, including Bittar, appeared in court, speaking only to confirm their identities. Achim Kraemer, 51, also of Deutsche Bank, was among them. He was ordered to pay a security of £100,000.

Other Deutsche Bank employees who were due to face charges did not attend the hearing. They are: Ardalan Gharagozlou, Andreas Hauschild, Joerg Vogt, and Kai-Uwe Kappauf. Societe Generale banker Stephane Esper, from Germany, was also not present to face charges.

Colin Bermingham, 59, from Aldeburgh, Suffolk; Carlo Palombo, 37, from California, US; Philippe Moryoussef, 47, of Singapore, and Sisse Bohart, 38, who gave an address in Denmark, all from Barclays, also appeared in court.

Deputy chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ordered the two men who live overseas to pay a bail security of £150,000 each, while Bohart was ordered to pay £50,000.

Bermingham was granted bail on the conditions that he surrenders his travel documents and reports weekly at a police station. A condition of residence at his home address was also imposed.

Bittar, Bermingham, Polombo, Moryoussef, Kraemer and Bohart are due to next appear at Southwark Crown Court on 13 January.

Last November the SFO said criminal proceedings would be "issued against other individuals in due course".

A number of bankers have already been charged with manipulating the Libor rate.

Last year Tom Hayes became the first person to be convicted of Libor rigging by a British jury and was jailed for 14 years. The sentence was later cut to 11 years by the Court of Appeal.