IT’S BACK!

06 NEWS THURSDAY 2 MARCH 2017
CITYAM.COM
Ex-Lloyds Libor traders hauled in
for questioning by the fraud squad
PICASSO THE CHEQUE BOOK Tomato
bloom painting sells for £17m at Sotheby’s
HAYLEY KIRTON
@HayleyLEK
A NUMBER of former Lloyds Banking
Group traders have been quizzed by
the fraud squad as part of its ongoing
investigation into London interbank
offered rate (Libor) rigging.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has
been probing the rigging of the
benchmark rate since 2012.
Bloomberg yesterday reported the
prosecutor has called in a number of
ex-Lloyds traders in recent months to
be questioned under caution about
the scandal. Interviews are usually
carried out under caution when
somebody is considered a possible
suspect, and the answers given can
be used in court if need be.
A Lloyds spokesperson said: “We
are unable to comment on
speculation regarding possible
ongoing investigations.”
The SFO declined to comment.
Lloyds itself was handed hefty
fines back in 2014 for failings over
rate rigging.
These penalties included a £105m
fine from the Financial Conduct
Authority (FCA) – the joint thirdhighest
fine at the time to be handed
down by the regulator and the
seventh linked to Libor – and $86m
(£69.8m) from the US Department of
Justice.
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR
THE LORD MAYOR’S APPEAL
A S C O T
RACE DAY
Wednesday 3 May 2017
11.30am–5pm
Ascot Racecourse
THE SALE of Pablo Picasso’s Plant de Tomates painting for £17m yesterday set a new
record for a still life by the artist. Painted in 1944, days before the liberation of Paris,
the painting reflects a spirit of hope and resilience that characterised this time.
Uber slams TfL
over ignoring
discrimination
Enjoy a day at Ascot with the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs including a
Champagne reception, sumptuous lunch with wine, afternoon tea,
thrilling races and fabulous hats!
A MIDSUMMER EVENING
OF MUSIC AND WINE
Wednesday 21 June 2017
6.30pm–10.45pm
Guildhall
Hosted by the Lord Mayor on Midsummer’s Night this very special dinner
will consist of performances by musicians from the London Symphony
Orchestra with wines chosen to match both food and music.
To book please visit
www.thelordmayorsappeal.org/events
Registered Charity No: 1148976
HAYLEY KIRTON
@HayleyLEK
UBER yesterday accused Transport for
London (TfL) of burying its head in the
sand when assessing the level of discrimination
involved in its proposed
English language testing.
The tech giant is challenging the
legal basis for rules proposed by TfL
which would require private hire drivers
to take a written English test.
Legal eagles for Uber told the court
earlier this week TfL’s new rules could
lead to as many as 33,000 private car
drivers vanishing from the streets of
London.
Thomas de la Mare, Uber’s lawyer,
yesterday added the measures could
cause about a third of those working in
London today to have their licence
pulled, and said the decision process
TfL used for imposing the written tests
was “flawed” as it failed to properly
quantify the problem.
The majority of those with their licence
on the line are thought to be
from countries with a first language
other than English.
“If you hide from numbers as stark as
HAYLEY KIRTON
@HayleyLEK
A REAL estate company has taken a
key step in appealing its case against
Royal Bank of Scotland, claiming the
bank caused it losses through interest
rates swaps mis-selling and Libor
manipulation.
Property Alliance Group (PAG) has
filed for permission for leave to
appeal to the Court of Appeal, City
A.M. understands.
The Manchester-based firm lost its
these, you do not confront the discrimination,”
de la Mare said.
De la Mare claimed Uber’s customers
did not seem as concerned as TfL about
the written English language requirement.
“The scheme has been operated with
all these drivers in place with not a single
complaint,” he said.
However Justice Mitting, the judge
overseeing the case, pointed out there
might still be valid reasons for the test,
such as it being unacceptable to have
drivers “who can’t respond to normal
questions”, despite the knock-on effects.
This was particularly relevant because
of the number of people with
disabilities who use private hire drivers
regularly.
“At the end of the day, it may be perfectly
justified to put a third of those
licences off the road,” the judge said.
Figures from the business department
suggest seven per cent of the
UK’s population would fail the proposed
written test, while Uber claims
it is more advanced than the current
language requirements for British
citizenship.
The case is ongoing.
Company takes crucial step in
bringing appeal against RBS
case in the High Court last year,
having sued the taxpayer-backed
lender for more than £30m, claiming
it had been mis-sold four interest
rate swap products and had wrongly
been moved into the Global
Restructuring Group.
The company also alleged key
managers at the lender knew Libor,
which its interest rate swap products
were pinned on, was being fixed.
RBS did not respond to request for
comment at time of writing, while
PAG was not available for comment.