Barclays Libor Duo Cheated Way to Profits, Prosecutor Says

Two former Barclays Plc traders charged with rigging a key interest-rate benchmark readily abandoned honesty and integrity in the pursuit of illegal profits, prosecutors said on the first day of a London trial.

Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, and Ryan Reich, 35, who were based on the London and New York swaps trading desks at Barclays, are charged with conspiring to manipulate the U.S. dollar London interbank offered rate, or Libor, from 2005 to 2007. They "dishonestly agreed to procure or make submissions of rates by Barclays" to create an advantage to the trading positions of the bank’s employees, according to a copy of the indictment.