* All are ex Barclays, former or current Deutsche traders
* Include first woman to face rate-rigging charges
* First Euribor charges open new chapter in rate-rig scandal (Adds details, background, lawyer comment)
By Kirstin Ridley
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Britain's Serious Fraud Office(SFO) said on Friday it would charge former Deutsche Bank star trader Christian Bittar and nine others in a newphase of a global investigation into alleged benchmark interestrate rigging.
The 10 individuals will face the first criminal proceedingsfor alleged manipulation of Euribor benchmark interest rates,part of a global investigation that has already led to bigfinancial institutions being fined billions of dollars and 22men being charged.
The traders are all former or current employees of DeutscheBank or Barclays and the SFO said it planned to filefurther criminal charges in due course.
The nine men and one woman were expected to attendWestminster Magistrates' Court voluntarily on Jan. 11, 2016,where they would be formally charged.
Authorities have been working to lay more charges againstthose they allege fixed rates such as Libor, the Londoninterbank offered rate, and its euro equivalent Euribor. Thecriminal trials that have already taken place have shed light onbanker practices before, during and after the 2007-2009financial crisis.
Designed to estimate the costs at which banks will lend toeach other, benchmark rates such as Libor and Euribor arecentral cogs in the global financial system and a benchmark forinterest rates on an estimated $450 trillion of financialcontracts, from derivatives to student loans.
Those who once worked or still work for Deutsche Bank werenamed as Bittar, Achim Kraemer, Andreas Hauschild, Joerg Vogt,Ardalan Gharagozlou and Kai-Uwe Kappauf. Former Barclays bankerswere named as Colin Bermingham, Carlo Palombo, PhilippeMoryoussef and Sisse Bohart, a woman. They will be charged withconspiracy to defraud.
Bermingham, known to colleagues as "The Professor", is theonly individual currently in Britain. Others are in Singapore,Germany and Denmark, among other places, the SFO said.
A lawyer for Bittar, Elizabeth Robertson of law firm K&LGates, said: "Our only comment on behalf of Mr Bittar is that heintends to fully contest the criminal proceedings started todayby the SFO."
"It emerged today that Mr. Hauschild will be charged withinvolvement in the manipulation of Euribor. He is not guilty ofthis offence and will vigorously contest these allegations athis forthcoming trial," said Andrew Katzen, a partner at lawfirm Hickman & Rose Solicitors.
Lawyers for the others were not immediately available forcomment.
LIBOR-RIGGING
The latest arrests come after Tom Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup derivatives trader, became thefirst man to be convicted by a jury of conspiracy to defraud bymanipulating yen-denominated Libor. He was sentenced to 14 yearsin a British jail in August.
Two former traders from Dutch bank Rabobank have also beenfound guilty by a jury of Libor-rigging in the United States.
In the meantime, six interdealer brokers are currently ontrial in London and a fourth trial, that of another group offormer Barclays employees, has been scheduled for next Januaryin London.
The trials are taking place three years after Barclaysbecame the first bank to strike a deal with U.S. and Britishauthorities, admitting its traders had tried to manipulate Liborand Euribor from 2005 through 2009, and that it had low-balledrates during the crisis. It was fined $450 million.
Since then, 10 other major financial institutions have beenfined in Europe and the United States for their role in thescandal, including UBS, Lloyds, JPMorgan, Citigroup and ICAP.
Deutsche Bank, the latest to face a penalty, was fined arecord $2.5 billion in April. As part of that deal, itsLondon-based subsidiary pleaded guilty to criminal wire fraudand the parent group entered a deferred prosecution agreement tosuspend criminal charges. (Additional reporting by Angus Berwick, Carolyn Cohn and MarcJones; Editing by Jane Merriman)
Barclays (BARC)
Lloyds (LLOY)
