When Tom Hayes, a former trader at the centre of the first criminal trial for rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate, was handed down his sentence of 14 years on August 3, he shook his head before placing it in his hands. His wife looked stunned, according to reporters in the court at the time.

Ben Rose, a partner at law firm Hickman & Rose, said his conviction "makes it seem even more odd that no institutions have been prosecuted for their part in manipulation".