London court quashes rate-rigging conviction of ex-Deutsche Bank trader Bittar

Christian ​Bittar, a ​former star Deutsche ‌Bank trader ​jailed in Britain for conspiring to rig benchmark ‌interest rates, won an appeal to clear his name on Friday despite pleading ‌guilty eight years ago. Bittar was sentenced to ‌five years and four months after pleading guilty in 2018 to rigging Euribor, the ⁠Euro ​interbank offered rate, ⁠which helps determine rates on trillions of dollars ⁠of financial contracts and loans worldwide.

But ​London's Court of Appeal on Friday ⁠quashed the conviction, saying it would publish its ⁠reasons ​later. Bittar brought his appeal after senior judges on Wednesday overturned the ⁠convictions of five former Barclays traders, further unspooling ⁠some ⁠of the UK Serious Fraud Office's most high-profile prosecutions.