Jay Merchant, a former Barclays trader, plans to pursue legal action against the bank following the overturning of his conviction related to the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor). Merchant, 55, was initially sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2016 for conspiracy to defraud but served more than two years before his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, alongside those of five other former Barclays employees.

Merchant alleges that Barclays used lower-level employees as “scapegoats” to mitigate regulatory penalties, claiming that the bank trained, instructed, and supervised the very practices it later distanced itself from. He contends that Barclays benefited from reduced fines by shifting blame onto traders like himself, stating that the supervisors who testified against him had been responsible for instructing him in the contested conduct. Merchant emphasized his intent to hold Barclays accountable through civil proceedings.

The Libor scandal first surfaced in 2012 amid accusations that financial institutions manipulated benchmark interest rates fundamental to the global financial system. The revelations provoked significant public outrage and led to regulatory fines totaling nearly $10 billion worldwide. Barclays alone paid approximately $450 million in penalties to UK and U.S. authorities in 2012, followed by a $100 million settlement with 44 U.S. states four years later to resolve further allegations of rate rigging.

This most recent legal development follows a Supreme Court ruling last year that found the original trial judge in related cases gave juries directions that were “legally inaccurate and unfair.” That decision contributed to the quashing of convictions for Merchant and others, including Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon, and Colin Bermingham. Similarly, convictions of Tom Hayes, a former trader at UBS and Citigroup, and Carlo Palombo, another ex-Barclays employee, were overturned in 2025.

Despite these overturned rulings, the Supreme Court noted there was still “ample evidence” upon which properly instructed juries could have found some defendants guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Hayes, who served five and a half years in prison, is currently suing UBS in the United States for at least $400 million, alleging malicious prosecution. UBS has requested the dismissal of this lawsuit.

Barclays declined to comment on Merchant’s planned legal action or the recent court decisions. The Libor saga has had lasting implications for the banking industry, prompting heightened scrutiny and reforms in benchmark rate governance.