By Kirstin Ridley and Tommy Wilkes
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - The first three traders accusedin Britain of conspiring to rig benchmark interest rates will betold the detailed charges against them at a court hearing inOctober.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Tuesday a list of"co-conspirators" with whom former trader Tom Hayes and twoformer brokers are alleged to have conspired to defraud wouldalso be read out at the hearing, provisionally set for the weekof Oct. 21.
The SFO, keen to prove its crime-fighting credentials, hassaid it expects to charge further individuals over the riggingof the London interbank offered rate (Libor) in the thirdquarter.
The scandal surrounding Libor, used to price trillions ofdollars worth of products ranging from derivatives to mortgages,has become a symbol for the finance industry's self-servingexcesses.
Authorities across at least 10 countries and threecontinents are investigating the Libor case and similarbenchmark rates, with around 20 major banks named either byauthorities or in civil damages claims coming to court.
In a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Judge Anthony Leonardcalled on the SFO to file a formal indictment against former RPMartin brokers Terry Farr and James Gilmour by Aug. 9, and servea full case summary on all three men by Sept. 30.
Former Citigroup and UBS trader Hayes lastappeared in court on July 4 with prosecutors promising"voluminous" evidence against him.
In its charges against Hayes, Farr and Gilmour, the SFO hasto date named a string of top banks and interdealer-brokers withwhose employees the three allegedly conspired to defraud.
These include JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank,HSBC, Rabobank, RBS, ICAP and TulletPrebon, along with the defendants' former employers. Ithas yet to name any other individuals.
The three men, who are all British, remain on bail.