LONDON, July 4 Reuters) - Three former Barclays traders have been found guilty by a London jury of conspiring tofraudulently manipulate global benchmark interest rates in asuccess for the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Calcutta-born Jay Merchant, 45, the most senior of the menon trial, was convicted unanimously while 35-year-old Britishformer Libor submitter Jonathan Mathew and former trader AlexPabon, a 38-year-old American, were found guilty by a majorityverdict after a 10-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.
A second Libor submitter, 61-year-old Peter Johnson, hadpleaded guilty. The men are expected to be sentenced onThursday.
Reporting restrictions on the verdicts were lifted on Mondayafter the jury failed to reach a verdict on two otherdefendants.
The verdicts come four years after Barclays became the firstof 11 powerful banks and brokerages to be slapped with a heftyfine over rate fixing allegations, sparking a political andpublic backlash that forced out charismatic former CEO BobDiamond, an overhaul of Libor rules and the criminal inquiry. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Writing by Kirstin Ridley; Editingby Keith Weir)