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Ex-Deutsche Bank trader pleads guilty to EURIBOR rigging

Former Deutsche Bank AG trader Christian Bittar pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud in connection with the U.K. Serious Fraud Office's investigation into the manipulation of the Euro Interbank Offered Rate, the regulator said March 15.

Bittar, who is among six traders charged by the SFO for manipulating EURIBOR between 2005 and 2009, pleaded guilty to the offense March 2.

The trial for the five other defendants — Achim Kraemer, Colin Bermingham, Carlo Palombo, Philippe Moryoussef and Sisse Bohart — is scheduled to begin April 9.

The SFO originally accused 11 former Deutsche Bank, Barclays Plc and Société Générale SA employees in the case. However, the number of individuals charged was whittled down to six after Frankfurt prosecutors in February decided against extraditing four other Deutsche Bank traders to face trial in London, while a French court ruled in 2017 not to turn over a former SocGen trader embroiled in the case.

A separate case against Bittar by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has been put on hold pending the SFO's criminal investigation, Bloomberg News noted.

Deutsche Bank was fined $2.5 billion in 2015 by U.S. and U.K. regulators in connection with the manipulation of benchmark interest rates.