Rahman Ravelli cites the number of acquittals when talking to Al Jazeera about the SFO ending its LIBOR rigging investigation

As 2019 was the year that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ended its seven-year investigation into LIBOR rigging, Al Jazeera asked Rahman Ravelli for it's thoughts on the conclusion of the scandal.

Rahman Ravelli outlined it's belief that the number of individuals acquitted could be seen as an indicator that the practice of rigging was considered acceptable at the time.

It also emphasised the point that while the early stages of many SFO investigations see senior figures questioned it is often the case that those further down the power structure – the “smaller players’’ – are the ones who end up being prosecuted.

According to Rahman Ravelli, it is the lower-level employees who come to be viewed by the SFO as being easier to convict.

With the use of LIBOR set to end in December 2021, a number of alternative benchmarks are vying to be recognised as its replacement. But Rahman Ravelli told Al Jazeera that whatever takes the place of LIBOR the rewards are so great in banking that the temptation to bend the rules will always be there.

Rahman Ravelli's comments featured on Al Jazeera.