By Lucca de Paoli | Updated on Oct 09, 2026 at 02:46 PM
Former Deutsche Bank AG trader Christian Bittar has had his conviction over fixing benchmark interest rates quashed, despite pleading guilty more than eight years ago.
Bittar, who earned the sobriquet ‘Mr. Basis Point’ for his wagers on tiny changes in short-term interest rates, served a 23-month sentence and was released in February 2020. The UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that his original conviction was unsafe, and exonerated him on Friday.
“I have waited a very, very long time for this day. Finally, the injustice of what I and others suffered has been recognized,” Bittar said after the decision. Bittar was not present in court, but watched the proceedings via an online link.
The ruling follows a series of convictions of traders for fixing key interest rates have been overturned. Now only one of the Serious Fraud Office’s nine rate-fixing convictions remains standing — with that now set to be appealed at a later date.
Former UBS Group AG trader Tom Hayes had his conviction overturned last year by the Supreme Court, the UK’s highest. The top court ruled that the juries were misdirected in the case of Hayes and another Barclays Plc trader Carlo Palombo. Five former Barclays traders earlier this week also had their convictions quashed.
Read More: Rate-Rigging Convictions of Barclays Traders Tossed by Court
The conviction of Bittar was different to those already overturned as he pleaded guilty in 2018. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office, which prosecuted the case, unsuccessfully argued that his conviction remained safe as he had pleaded guilty.
The prosecution of Bittar and other traders for fixing key benchmark interest rates was a landmark win for the SFO. Now that victory has been overturned it raises questions about the agencies ability to make sure convictions of the most complicated financial crimes can stick.
“We argued for a different outcome but respect the court’s decision in relation to Christian Bittar,” Jason Williams, the head of the fraud and corruption unit at the SFO, said in a statement. “The SFO remains committed to tackling the most complex fraud, bribery and corruption.”
A lawyer for ex-Barclays Plc trader Peter Johnson, the only remaining rate-rigging conviction said he would now appeal his conviction. Johnson pleaded guilty in October 2014 and was sentenced to four years in jail, despite cooperating with a US investigation.
“The quashing of these convictions is welcome news,” Ellen Gallagher, Johnson’s lawyer said in email. “But Peter’s fight to clear his name continues, and he intends to appeal.”
Bittar grew up in Senegal, attended a top French university and then started working for Societe Generale SA as a quantitative analyst. He was poached by Deutsche Bank in 2001 and gained notoriety for hugely successful wagers on the spreads in short term interest rates during the financial crisis. One year, he received a bonus of £90 million ($119 million).
Read More: From a $126 Million Bonus to Jail: The Fall of a Star Trader
The London judge who gave Bittar his prison sentence described him as “perhaps the best” derivatives trader in the world. The judge considered giving him nine years in prison, but reduced it because of his guilty plea and the toll the probe had already taken on his life. British regulators separately banned Bittar from the finance industry.
Deutsche Bank paid a $2.5 billion fine for failing to prevent attempts to rig benchmark interest rates.