Former Rabobank Trader Banned From FCA Following LIBOR Fallout

Lee Stewart has found himself on the outside of facing in, following a ban from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), according to a recent Reuters report.

Mr. Stewart was once a trader at Rabobank, having since been obstructed from participating in the UK’s financial services industry on the heels of a criminal conviction for London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) fraud. The LIBOR scandal convulsed the financial services industry nearly two years ago, resulting in billions in fines – the rates themselves represent the key short-term rate banks charge each other for loans, influencing hundreds of trillions of dollars of financial products.

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Earlier this year, the FCA also banned Paul Robson, another ex-trader at Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (Rabobank), following a similar fraud conviction in the United States.

Mr. Stewart’s ban is the product of a tumultuous string of allegations and subsequent verdict, “lacking honesty and integrity following a criminal conviction for fraud in the United States for his role in a conspiracy to manipulate Rabobank’s U.S. dollar Libor submissions,” per an FCA manifest.

The final injunction from the FCA against Stewart, marks the latest chapter in his plights with the UK regulator, who pleaded guilty back in March to numerous US charges to manipulate the LIBOR rate in the US.

According to the FCA communiqué, “To date the FCA has issued 14 warning notices related to interest rate benchmarks, and continues wider investigations into individuals’ conduct in relation to LIBOR misconduct.”

“This ban further 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,” added FCA acting director of enforcement, Georgina Philippou in an accompanying statement.

Over the past few years, the UK watchdog has committed a substantial amount of resources to conduct a study on how financial industry participants are using benchmarks and what should be done to eliminate the worries which have been triggered by recent investigations into LIBOR, precious metals and foreign exchange benchmarks.