A jury at Southwark Crown Court today found five individuals not guilty of conspiracy to defraud in connection with the U.K. Serious Fraud Office's ongoing criminal investigation into the manipulation of LIBOR.

Colin Goodman, Danny Wilkinson, Terry Farr, James Gilmour and Noel Cryan were found not guilty of all charges following a four-month trial. A sixth defendant, Darrell Read, was found not guilty on one count; the jury continue to consider the case concerning Read on a further count. Read, Goodman, and Wilkinson are all former employees at ICAP; Farr and Gilmour, of RP Martin Holdings; and Cryan of Tullett Prebon Group.

The SFO alleged that all six conspired with Tom Hayes, who was convicted after trial and sentenced last year, to defraud in that they agreed, upon instruction by Hayes, to influence the submissions of panel banks in the Yen LIBOR setting process.

“The key issue in this trial was whether these defendants were party to a dishonest agreement with Tom Hayes," SFO Director David Green said in a statement. "By their verdicts the jury have said that they could not be sure that this was the case.  Nobody could sensibly suggest that these charges should not have been brought and considered by a jury.”

A further trial of individuals charged with the manipulation of U.S. Dollar LIBOR is scheduled to begin on Feb. 15, 2016, while a trial of individuals charged with the manipulation of the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) is scheduled to begin on Sept. 4, 2017.

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