Former senior Barclays banker tells court he can’t remember what Libor training the bank offered its traders
A ex-Barclays banker who held senior roles at the firm told a court today he could not remember what training for Libor was on offer, as the trial against two of the bank's other former traders for rigging the rate rumbles on.
The Serious Fraud Office has claimed Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, and Ryan Reich, 35, played roles in a conspiracy to fix the benchmark between 1 June 2005 and 1 September 2007.
Speaking in court today, Eric Bommensath, who was Barclays' global head of fixed income during the time period concerned and left the bank in 2015, said he didn't remember what training was on offer for Libor at the bank.
Bommensath added bankers could have read up on the benchmark themselves if they knew they would be working with it, saying: "There is a lot of ability to read… you could print a definition of the instrument and read what it means."
However, when shown a string of emails and messages sent in the time period the case is concerned with between some of Barclays' bankers, discussing where they would have liked the rate to be set, Bommensath said: "If I had seen that, I would have asked compliance and legal to investigate."
The case, which is expected to run for around six weeks in total and is being heard in Southwark Crown Court, is ongoing.