Libor trial: Jury retires to consider verdict in case of trader Tom Hayes

The jury has retired to consider a verdict on Tom Hayes in the Libor rigging case.

Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup trader who is charged with eight criminal counts of conspiracy, has pleaded not guilty on all charges.

He is the first trader in the London interbank interest rate (Libor) rigging case and cooperated with the Serious Fraud Office out of fear of being extradited to the US.

Judge Jeremy Cooke urged the jury in Southwark Crown Court to consider whether Hayes is guilty "by the standards of reasonable, honest members of society".

"Not by the standards of the market in which he operated ... Not by the standards of his employers or colleagues."

Cooke also told the jury: "Do not concern yourself with others who may or may not be prosecuted, whether or not there was or was not a more general endemic problem in the market at the time of which they were or were not part."

After months of evidence from both sides, the jury was asked to consider a verdict.

Hayes, a Yen derivatives trader based in Tokyo who has previously been diagnosed with Asperger, denied any account of dishonesty.

He said he had received no training and he told his managers what he was doing.

On 7 July, Hayes told the court: "I acted with complete transparency... My managers knew, my manager's manager knew. In some cases the CEO was aware of it."

However, the SFO has accused the 35-year-old of different counts of criminal fraud, saying that he conspired with brokers in the world's most powerful financial institutions, bribing them to rig rates.

Trillions of pounds worth of financial contracts are priced using the Libor rate.

Hayes told the court that he admitted to dishonesty to the SFO in order to avoid extradition and has pleaded not guilty in the trial.