Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

UKSC: R v Hayes; R v Palombo: LIBOR/EURIBOR convictions quashed; honesty for the jury; clearer indictments; conspiracy to defraud limited; repercussions for past cases and SFO

Published on: 27 August 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Legal News

Article summary

R v Hayes; R v Palombo [2025] UKSC 29 What are the practical implications of this case?

The judgment is poised to have significant consequences for the safety of convictions of other traders found guilty of comparable offences said to stem from alleged LIBOR/EURIBOR benchmark manipulation; nonetheless, it is improbable that the same problems will recur in forthcoming cases, and all LIBOR settings ended in 2024 (though EURIBOR remains in operation).

It also offers several helpful reminders for criminal practitioners:

Criminal trials must preserve a clear line between issues of fact and issues of law; questions of honesty or sincerely held belief are matters of fact for the jury to determine.
The judgment criticises aspects of the indictments and stresses that prosecutors must supply sufficient particulars so that both the defence and the trial judge can grasp, clearly and precisely, the nature of the prosecution case (paras [52–64]). The demand for clarity in an indictment is especially acute where conspiracy to defraud is charged, given the ‘uncertain ambit of the offence’ (para [50]).
The offence of conspiracy to defraud cannot consist of an agreement to secure a ‘lawful’ objective by ‘lawful’ means...

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