Tom Hayes: The 'Rain Man Ringmaster' Of Libor

In a landmark two month case, Tom Hayes was the first person to stand trial for the criminal fixing of international bank lending rates.

Hayes was found guilty of conspiring to rig the Libor rate which underpins the price of trillions of pounds-worth of mortgages and loans.

But the 35-year-old, described in court as "extremely intelligent", doesn't fit the fat-cat, champagne-quaffing, banker stereotype.

Recently diagnosed with a mild form of Asperger's Syndrome, Hayes claimed he was dubbed "Rain Man" by colleagues because of his "different" persona, and was teased for having kept his childhood superhero bedding - despite his six-figure salary.

He told how he was mocked by brokers who nicknamed him "Tommy Chocolate" for ordering cocoa in the pub while his colleagues downed beers.

Hayes said: "They used to laugh at me, I had the same superheroes duvet cover I had since I was eight. I didn't see the point buying a new one when that one was perfectly adequate."

The married father-of-one described how his "love-hate job" was like a rollercoaster.

He said: "It could be the worst job in the world, could make you want to jump off a bridge and make you feel physically sick when you went into work.

"But the success when you got it right. That's like solving that equation, it's like seeing that number pop up on your screen.

"There's no subjectivity, you make money or lose money - it's so pure."

But the prosecution claimed that behind his quirks Hayes was the "ringmaster" behind an international conspiracy to rig Libor which undermined the integrity of financial markets.

He was depicted as "greedy" and driven by a desire for money. Not satisfied with his large salary, he rigged Libor so he could impress his bosses and make millions, jurors heard.

Hayes, from Fleet in Hampshire, graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2001 with a degree in maths and engineering.

He worked for Royal Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Canada before joining UBS in 2006 as a trader in Tokyo.

He was paid £1.3m before tax in salary and incentives by UBS from September 2006 to December 2009.

He joined Citibank in 2009 after he "felt that UBS were not paying him enough", and received £3.5m before tax for just nine months' work.

The prosecutor said Hayes immediately set about rigging Libor in his new job. He sent a message on his first day trading with UBS, on 29 September, 2006, saying: "Do me a favour and get the Libor rate up?"

As a trader in yen Libor derivatives, he bet on movements of the daily rate banks are able to borrow from each other.

He admitted making "requests" concerning the Libor rate, but insisted lots of bankers were doing the same, and "no one batted an eyelid".

But he claimed his rigging and manipulating of Libor was not dishonest and his bosses knew what he was doing.

Hayes said in a recorded interview with the SFO on the 1 February, 2013: "Although I was operating within a system or participating within a system in which it was commonplace, you know, ultimately I was someone who was a serial offender."