尽管在八年多前就已认罪，前德意志银行交易员克里斯蒂安·比特尔的利率操纵定罪最终被撤销。
By Lucca de Paoli Former Deutsche Bank AG trader Christian Bittar has had his conviction over fixing benchmark interest rates quashed, despite pleading guilty more than eight years ago.
比特尔因擅长押注短期利率的细微变动而获得了“基点先生”的绰号。他曾服刑23个月，于2020年2月获释。本周五，英国上诉法院裁定其最初的定罪缺乏依据，从而宣告他无罪。周五庭审时比特尔并未亲临现场，而是通过网络连线参与。
Bittar, who earned the sobriquet ‘Mr. Basis Point’ for his wagers on tiny changes in short-term interest rates, served a 23-month sentence and was released in February 2020. The UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that his original conviction was unsafe, and exonerated him on Friday. Bittar was not present in court on Friday, but was watching via an online link.
此裁决是在一系列针对利率操纵案交易员的定罪被推翻的大背景下作出的。去年，英国最高法院撤销了前瑞银集团交易员汤姆·海耶斯的定罪；该法院判定，针对海耶斯及另一位巴克莱银行交易员卡洛·帕隆博的陪审团引导存在失误，导致相关定罪无效。本周早些时候，另外五名巴克莱银行交易员的定罪也相继被撤销。
The ruling comes after a series of convictions of traders for fixing key interest rates have been overturned. Former UBS Group AG trader Tom Hayes had his conviction overturned last year by the Supreme Court, the UK’s highest. The top court ruled that the juries were misdirected in the case of Hayes and another Barclays Plc trader Carlo Palombo, making those and similar convictions unsafe. Five former Barclays traders earlier this week also had their convictions quashed.
比特尔的案情与前述案例有所不同：他于2018年主动认罪。负责起诉此案的英国严重欺诈办公室虽极力主张“认罪事实足以维持定罪”，但最终未能如愿。
The conviction of Bittar was different to those already overturned as he pleaded guilty in 2018. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office, which prosecuted the case originally, unsuccessfully argued that his conviction remained safe as he had pleaded guilty.
比特尔出生于塞内加尔，曾在法国顶尖学府求学，后进入法国兴业银行担任量化分析师。2001年他转投德意志银行，并在金融危机期间凭借对短期利率差值的精准押注声名大噪。有一年，他获得了9000万英镑的奖金，按当时汇率计算约合1.26亿美元。
Bittar grew up in Senegal, went to a top French university and then started working for Societe Generale SA as a quantitative analyst. He was poached by Deutsche Bank in 2001 and gained notoriety for hugely successful wagers on the spreads in short term interest rates during the financial crisis. One year, he received a bonus of £90 million, worth $126 million at the time.