UBS Asks US Court to Toss Hayes’ $400 Million Libor Suit

(Bloomberg) — UBS Group AG asked a US court to dismiss a suit filed by its ex-trader Tom Hayes that accuses the lender of handing him over on a “silver platter” to global prosecutors in order to protect the bank and its senior leadership during the Libor rigging scandal.

Lawyers for the Swiss bank told the Connecticut court that Hayes’ claims are “spurious” and his decision to file in the state “despite being an English citizen who was tried and convicted in England is quintessential forum shopping.”

In October, Hayes sued his former employer for “malicious prosecution” for at least $400 million. They argued that UBS “scapegoated” Hayes during the investigations and “irreversibly ruined” his life.

The global investigation into Libor-rigging over a decade ago, led by the US Department of Justice, resulted in fines of almost $10 billion for a dozen banks and brokerages. UBS ended up paying more than $1.5 billion in penalties to settle several investigations.

Hayes was found guilty in the UK of rigging the benchmark interest rate in 2015, a conviction that set off a raft of prosecutions against bankers and traders across the City of London. Despite multiple appeals, the verdict stayed until July when Hayes’ conviction was quashed by the UK Supreme Court.

Hayes cannot prove “that UBS prosecuted him or initiated his prosecution” or “that UBS acted maliciously,” the bank’s lawyers said. UBS wasn’t a party to the UK criminal proceedings.

The Supreme Court set aside Hayes’ conviction because the jury wasn’t directed properly by the judge but at the same time acknowledged that there was ample evidence of his guilt, the bank’s lawyers said.

“Despite the bank’s efforts to deflect attention elsewhere, UBS’s purely procedural motion is a desperate attempt to avoid having discovery into the facts and having the case heard on its merits,” a spokesperson for Hayes said by email. “We look forward to seeing them in court.”

UBS declined to comment.

–With assistance from Myriam Balezou.

(Adds comment from spokesperson for Hayes in eighth paragraph.)

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