LONDON--A former UBS AG trader charged by the U.S. in 2012 with
attempted manipulation of benchmark interest rates filed a motion
to dismiss the case, blasting the Justice Department for "an
unprecedented attempt to expand the extraterritorial reach" of U.S.
law.
Roger Darin, a Swiss citizen who worked for UBS in Tokyo and
Zurich, was charged by the Justice Department in December 2012 with
criminal fraud for allegedly trying to manipulate the Japanese yen
version of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. Mr. Darin
was charged alongside another former UBS trader, Tom Hayes.
In a motion to dismiss filed in New York federal court Thursday,
Mr. Darin's lawyers said the U.S. lacks jurisdiction to charge the
former trader, a foreign national whose alleged actions took place
at a foreign bank and on foreign soil, involved a benchmark
denominated in a foreign currency, and weren't designed to affect
the U.S. The motion also says Mr. Darin's alleged actions have
never previously been considered criminal.
"If the government's sweeping theory is accepted, then federal
law could be used to prosecute any foreign national, acting outside
the United States, who has affected any piece of financial
information that can be accessed through the Internet," the motion
says. "The Constitution does not permit such prosecutorial
overreach."
In its criminal complaint against Messrs. Darin and Hayes, the
Justice Department accused the former traders of conspiring to rig
yen Libor in a fraudulent manner. The Justice Department hasn't
submitted court filings responding to Mr. Darin's motion.
Messrs. Darin and Hayes haven't entered pleas in the U.S. Mr.
Hayes faces similar criminal charges in the U.K. He has pleaded not
guilty to those charges and his trial is scheduled to begin in
London early next year.
Write to David Enrich at david.enrich@wsj.com
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