“Rain Man”, the autism who led the global conspiracy to manipulate the Libor – BBC

Tom Hayes is the first person convicted by the plot Libor manipulation occurred between 2006 and 2010

His name is Tom Hayes and his colleagues nicknamed him “Rain Man” to suffer from Asperger syndrome, a type of mild autism – and a genius with numbers, such as the famous movie character. He is considered the organizer of the conspiracy that got manipulate Libor between 2006 and 2010.

Hayes was sentenced Monday in UK to 14 years in prison for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, used as reference in financial contracts and credits worldwide

Read also:. How banks manipulated the exchange rate to enrich

The former financial agent UBS and Citigroup, 35, signatures is the first person convicted of this global plot that led to the financial supervisors in the US, UK and Switzerland to punish Citibank, Barclays, Bank of America, HSBC banks JPMorgan, RBS and UBS with a total fine of US $ 5,775 million.

Libor largely dependent on the price of financial products worldwide.

During the trial, prosecutors called it “the emcee ” of the network, although the defense tried to present as a minor piece “ thrown under a bus” for their banking employers.

But who is Tom Hayes?

Money making machine

He himself said he never had a great ambition to enter the world of finance.

During his studies, he spent summers working in the kitchen a restaurant to stay, but when he graduated in Mathematics and Engineering at England’s University of Nottingham decided it was time to live better.

Numerous banks have been punished with heavy fines by the issue.

His natural ability with numbers immediately impressed his recruiters RBS, which started working in 2001. From there he went to Royal Bank of Canada and . then UBS in September 2006

Read also: Keys to understanding the Libor

It was in the office of UBS in Tokyo when it began operating financial products based on Libor.

Scapegoat?

Hayes did not deny at any time that both UBS and then in Citibank he tried to manipulate Libor, according to Mark Broad, BBC journalist. He acknowledged that the evidence was genuine

But, when asked if it was for his own benefit, Hayes was surprised. His response was that this was a common practice in banks where he worked and higher were aware.

Before being fired in 2010, and won his salary more than US $ 4 million. But when the scandal broke surrendered

Read also:. UBS, another bank in the center of the storm Libor

By knowing what you could face acknowledged he was “paralyzed with fear”, but always insisting that it was a common practice.

“I was operating within a system” where influence Libor was a common activity, he said.

“I acted with complete transparency towards my employers. My superiors knew, the boss of my boss knew that. In some cases, the chief executive officer (CEO) was aware of it, “Hayes said the court

The evidence against him was overwhelming.. internal chats, messages, emails, phone calls etc

Quilt with a superhero

In one of the messages says the journalist Mark Broad, one of the agents told RBS Tom Hayes: “The Libor takes three months too high because I’ve kept artificially high.” And he explained that he could do it in collaboration with the “companions” of other banks.

And in a call offered between US $ 50,000 and US $ 100,000 for keeping the Libor at specific levels.

Hayes confessed paralyzed with fear hearing the sentence that could fall. I always said his bosses knew what was happening.

The judge warned the jury that Hayes had been diagnosed with a “soft” form of Asperger’s (a form of autism) syndrome, which meant that He saw the problems as black or white, did not perceive the nuances.

Hayes tried to exploit this pathway ensuring that his colleagues mocked him to maintain a duvet cover with a superhero of children.

But it did not work. Hayes is now the only one who takes the blame, “one of the darkest episodes in financial history,” says Broad

But you can not be the only one. 11 others are accused and have to go to trial.