Golden Globes voters hit with antitrust lawsuit

Yahoo – AFP, 4 August 2020

HFPA President Lorenzo Soria is named as a defendant in an antitrust lawsuit
against the group which awards the Golden Globes each year (AFP Photo/Robyn BECK)

Los Angeles (AFP) - The exclusive group of film journalists that awards the Golden Globes was accused Monday of sabotaging non-members while gorging on lavish perks and unparalleled access to Hollywood stars.

An antitrust lawsuit filed against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the organization illegally monopolized entertainment reporting in Los Angeles while creating near-impossible barriers to entry for new members.

"All year long, HFPA members enjoy all-expenses-paid trips to film festivals around the world where the studios treat them lavishly and accommodate their every desire," said the suit brought by Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa.

"Qualified applicants for admission to the HFPA are virtually always rejected because the majority of its 87 members are unwilling to share or dilute the enormous economic benefits they receive as members," it adds.

The HFPA wields considerable power due to its annual Golden Globes -- one of Tinseltown's biggest and glitziest award shows, which is seen as a key step to success at the all-important Oscars.

Yet its membership -- which exclusively decides who walks away with the coveted Globes each year -- is shrouded in mystery.

Though some members work for well-respected foreign media outlets, many are freelancers writing for obscure publications.

The lawsuit details instances of members being wined and dined by Hollywood studios, including a Disney press trip to a Singapore five-star hotel last year.

"The studios, of course, resent having to lavish enormous sums of money on, and being required to cater to, the desires of a few dozen aging journalists who are regularly heard snoring through screenings, but given the importance of the Golden Globes, they see no way to end the farce," says the lawsuit.

Flaa, the plaintiff, applied for membership in 2018 and last year, but was rejected both times.

In her lawsuit, she accuses rival Scandinavian journalists of blocking her entry even though she is qualified to join according to HFPA criteria.

Any foreign journalist seeking entry must be sponsored by two members, and a newcomer's application can be rejected if one member of the association vetoes it.

The HFPA, which has yet to be served with the complaint, denied the allegations and accused Flaa of "ongoing attempts to shake down the HFPA."

"The HFPA has refused to pay ransom, telling Ms Flaa that membership was not gained through intimidation," the group said in a statement to AFP.

"Ms Flaa and her attorney are now asking a court to order her into the organization and pay her.

"The HFPA takes seriously its obligations as an organization and its dedication to foreign journalism and philanthropy, and it will vigorously defend against these baseless claims."

Europeans join global wave of anti-racism protests

Yahoo – AFP, by Patrick Rahir with Alexandria Sage in Rome, 7 June 2020

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Madrid

Calling for racial justice, protesters rallied across Europe Sunday, joining a wave of demonstrations sparked by the death of African American George Floyd at the hands of US police.

A video of the incident with Floyd pleading for his life in Minneapolis as a white police officer knelt on his neck has sparked angry protests worldwide, even as countries continue to discourage large gatherings to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

Several thousand people massed outside the US embassy in Madrid, shouting "I cannot breathe", Floyd's last words, and demanding justice.

"Racism knows no borders," said Leinisa Seemdo, a 26-year-old Spanish translator from Cape Verde. "In all the countries where I have lived, I have experienced discrimination because of the colour of my skin."

Main protests over the death of George Floyd in selected cities worldwide, as of June 7

Rome's Piazza del Popolo ("People's Plaza") fell silent for eight minutes -- roughly the time Floyd was pinned down by the policeman -- with thousands of people taking a knee in memory of Floyd, their fists in the air.

"We can't breathe," shouted the crowd, after the collective silence.

"It's really hard to live here," said Senegalese migrant Morikeba Samate, 32, one of the thousands to have arrived in Italy after risking the perilous crossing across the Mediterranean.

Opposition to that wave of migration buoyed the far-right in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

Floyd's death last month has unleashed the most serious and widespread civil unrest in the United States since Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.

Protesters raised their fists and held eight minutes' silence in a protest in Rome

The police officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder while three fellow officers face lesser charges.

'No Justice, No Peace'

More than 1,000 people on Sunday also gathered at a Black Lives Matter protest near the US embassy in Budapest.

"We have come together to stand up against racism," Hungarian reggae singer G Ras told cheering protesters. "If we want to live in a better world, we need to radically change the way we live."

Almost 4,000 attended two similar events in the Netherlands.

Protesters carried placards and plays drums during a rally in solidarity with 

the "Black Lives Matter" movement in Rome

Another rally took place in London on Sunday despite a coronavirus ban against large gatherings, following scuffles Saturday during an otherwise peaceful protest.

In Bristol, a city linked to the slave trade, the statue of trader Edward Colston was torn down Sunday and thrown into the harbour.

In Lausanne, Switzerland, a black-clad demonstrator's placard read "my colour is not a threat", while almost 10,000 people marched in Brussels, police said.

"The murder of George Floyd had clearly woken up a lot of people," commented Ange Kaze of the Belgian Network for Black Lives.

As well as Rome, other demonstrations were planned during the day in Copenhagen, 

Brussels, Glasgow and London

A few skirmishes broke out at the end of the Brussels rally, but a demonstration by 15,000 in Copenhagen ended peacefully.

Fighting was also reported however at the end of a protest in Goteborg, Sweden, were almost 2,000 people turned out for a march authorised for just 50 owing to coronavirus restrictions.

As countries begin to emerge from lockdowns, governments are struggling to balance people's need to express anger against the risk of protests spreading a disease that has killed nearly 400,000 worldwide.

Demonstrators have rallied in Australia in support of the US protests

In France, more than 23,000 people demonstrated on Saturday, and football players from a half dozen German teams knelt over the weekend in Floyd's memory.

His death occured during a pandemic that has disproportionately affected black people and ethnic minorities in mega cities such as London, New York and Rio de Janeiro.

The historic economic recession triggered by virus lockdowns has hammered the poor and marginalised even more.

A combination of economic woes, social tensions and anger at US President Donald Trump's response has refocused attention on racial divides like few other events since the 1960s.

Calling for racial justice, protesters rallied across Europe Sunday, joining a wave
of demonstrations sparked by the death of African American George Floyd at the
hands of US police

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Madrid

Main protests over the death of George Floyd in selected cities worldwide, as of June 7

Protesters raised their fists and held eight minutes' silence in a protest in Rome

Protesters carried placards and plays drums during a rally in solidarity with the "Black Lives Matter" movement in Rome

As well as Rome, other demonstrations were planned during the day in Copenhagen, Brussels, Glasgow and London

Demonstrators have rallied in Australia in support of the US protests.

Japan anti-high heels campaigner steps up to fight 'glasses ban'

Yahoo – AFP, Kyoko HASEGAWA, December 3, 2019

Yumi Ishikawa, leader and founder of the KuToo movement, is now turning her
attention to glasses (AFP Photo/Charly TRIBALLEAU)

A Japanese woman whose campaign against mandatory high heels in the workplace won broad public support has stepped up her fight against strict corporate dress codes -- including a de-facto ban on women wearing glasses.

Actress and freelance writer Yumi Ishikawa shot to prominence this year with her drive against Japanese office culture, in which high heels are seen as near-obligatory when job-hunting or working in the office.

Known by the slogan "#KuToo" -- a play on words from the Japanese word "kutsu", meaning shoes, and "kutsuu", meaning "pain" -- the campaign was chosen on Monday as one of the buzzwords of the year.

Ishikawa's latest petition to relax the rules, delivered to the labour ministry on Tuesday, has attracted more than 31,000 signatures.

"The root cause of the problem is that (there are companies) that have rules for women only -- such as a ban on wearing glasses or a requirement to wear make-up," the 32-year-old told reporters.

"This practice has to be reviewed," she added.

Campaigners had already submitted a petition to the government in June which called for legislation to declare the obligatory wearing of high heels as harassment.

But Ishikawa said progress had been lukewarm and she was "shocked to see there was no mention of high heels" in the government's draft rules published in October.

An official who received the petition said the labour ministry would "consider the petition as one of the opinions" before making a final decision on new government rules to counter harassment in workplace.

One 28-year-old woman contacted by AFP, who asked to remain anonymous, said glasses were banned at her workplace because they give a "cold facial expression".

"I've been wearing glasses for more than a decade because I suffer from dry eye syndrome. I feel uncomfortable wearing contact lenses and am worried that my eye disease may get worse," said the receptionist.

An official at a major employment agency told AFP that come companies asked receptionists to "refrain from wearing glasses" as part of dress codes that also included a ban on dyed hair or unmanicured nails.

Campaigners have said high heels are akin to modern foot-binding while others have urged other dress codes, such as the near-total donning of business suits for men, to be loosened in the Japanese workplace.

Related Articles:

MPs back female quotas for supervisory boards, VVD votes against

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Embattled opera star Placido Domingo resigns from LA Opera

Yahoo – AFP, October 2, 2019

In this file photo taken on August 28, 2019 Spanish tenor Placido Domingo performs
during his concert in the newly inaugurated sports and culture centre 'St Gellert
Forum' in Szeged, southern Hungary (AFP Photo/Attila KISBENEDEK)

Los Angeles (AFP) - Legendary opera singer Placido Domingo, who is facing myriad sexual harassment accusations, has resigned as general director of the Los Angeles Opera.

"Recent accusations that have been made against me in the press have created an atmosphere in which my ability to serve this company that I so love has been compromised," Domingo, 78, wrote in a statement to AFP on Wednesday.

"While I will continue to work to clear my name, I have decided that it is in the best interests of LA Opera for me to resign as its general director and withdraw from my future scheduled performances at this time.

"I do so with a heavy heart and at the same time wish to convey to the company's dedicated board and hard-working staff my deepest wishes that the LA Opera continue to grow and excel."

The LA Opera issued a statement thanking the legendary singer, who has been at the helm of the institution since 2003, and crediting him for cultural contributions to the city that are "unprecedented and profound."

His resignation comes a week after Domingo announced that he was withdrawing from all performances at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

The 11th-hour decision came just one night before the Spaniard dubbed the "King of Opera" was scheduled to perform the title role in the Met's sold-out first production of "Macbeth."

In August, eight singers and a dancer told the Associated Press about incidents going back to the 1980s, including one in which a woman said Domingo put his hand down her skirt while three others said he forcibly kissed them.

A subsequent report by the US news agency cited 11 more women, including one who said he reached down her robe to grab her bare breast.

The reports painted a portrait of a man who acted with impunity, shielded by his power as one of opera's foremost stars, as a whisper network formed warning women of his alleged reputation.

Dolce & Gabbana say sorry, in Chinese, after race row

Yahoo – AFP, Elizabeth LAW, 23 November 2018

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana issued a written apology on Weibo after a
video was posted on their company's Instagram feed that some deemed
culturally insensitive to China

The founders of Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana apologised to Chinese customers on Friday as a row over racially offensive posts snowballed, with its products pulled from lucrative Chinese e-commerce platforms.

In an attempt to salvage their reputation in the world's most important luxury market, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana capped a 1 minute 30-second mea culpa by saying "sorry" in Mandarin in a video posted on a Chinese social media platform.

"Our families always taught us to respect different cultures across the world and because of this we want to ask for your forgiveness if we have made mistakes in interpreting yours," said Dolce in Italian.

"We want to say sorry to all Chinese across the world, of which there are many, and we are taking this apology and message very seriously," Gabbana added.

The Chinese-subtitled video -- the company's second apology this week over the row -- was posted on Weibo, the popular Chinese Twitter-like social media platform where they have close to one million followers.

The controversy marks the latest backpedalling by a foreign company for offending Chinese consumers or authorities.

Earlier this year, German automaker Mercedes-Benz apologised for "hurting the feelings" of people in China after its Instagram account quoted Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, seen as a separatist by Beijing. The foreign ministry welcomed the apology.

Under pressure from Beijing, a growing number of international airlines and companies have edited their websites to refer to the self-ruling democratic island of Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" or "Chinese Taipei".

Marriott's website in China was shut down by the authorities for a week earlier this year after a customer questionnaire listed Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as separate countries, prompting the hotel chain to apologise and change the wording.

D&G boycott

Dolce & Gabbana had already issued a written apology on Weibo earlier this week after the scandal prompted Chinese celebrities to boycott a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Shanghai, which the company then cancelled.

Protestor Edward Gu targeted the Dolce & Gabbana store in Shanghai 

following the race row

The controversy arose after the brand posted short clips on Instagram showing a Chinese woman eating pizza, spaghetti and a cannoli with chopsticks that some deemed culturally insensitive.

But it escalated after screenshots circulated of an Instagram user's alleged chat with the famously volatile Gabbana, who used five smiling poo emojis to describe China and launched insults at the country and its people.

The company said its account and that of Stefano Gabbana had been hacked and that its legal office was investigating the matter.

Despite the earlier apology, the Italian fashion house's products disappeared from multiple Chinese e-commerce platforms.

A spokeswoman of retail giant Suning.com said they have removed all Dolce & Gabbana products after the incident.

The brands also could not be searched on retail giants Taobao and JD.com. The two companies did not respond to requests for comment.

'Insult' China

A protestor on Thursday targeted the Dolce & Gabbana store in Shanghai, plastering the storefront with the alleged screenshots of Gabbana's conversation.

"Improper comments that insult China from the so-called famous designer of an internationally famous brand have really ruined our mood," said protestor Edward Gu, who claims to work for a modelling and talent agency.

Referring to the cancelled show, he said many models, manufacturers and publicists from around the world worked hard on it but it was now a "wasted effort".

Chinese social media users were unconvinced by the latest apology, with the video garnering over 100,000 comments some three hours after it was posted.

"They're bowing their precious heads to the renminbi (yuan) then," one Weibo user commented on the apology post.

Workplace harassment blights industries across board

Yahoo – AFP, October 25, 2017

The Harvey Weinstein scandal illustrates the problem at its most extreme: the
disgraced Hollywood producer stands accused by around 40 actresses of charges
ranging from harassment to assault to rape (AFP Photo/STAFF)

New York (AFP) - Sexual harassment in the workplace is a global scourge. From sport to cuisine, from fashion to finance, here is a round-up of industries in the United States dogged by revelations in the wake of Harvey Weinstein's disgrace.

Cinema

Since early October, more than 50 women have accused the Hollywood mogul Weinstein of sexual misconduct ranging from inappropriate touching to rape and stretching back decades. His accusers include Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow.

This week actress Dominique Huett filed a lawsuit charging that The Weinstein Company was complicit in the abuse in knowing for years of its co-founder's "repeated acts of sexual misconduct with women."

Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon has said she was 16 when she was assaulted for the first time by an unnamed director, saying she felt "anger" at "the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment."

Dozens of accusations have been made against director James Toback for unwanted sexual encounters. Pop singer Bjork also said she was harassed by an unnamed director, saying "it is a universal thing that a director can touch and harass his actresses at will and the institution of film allows it".

Fashion

Conde Nast this week axed Terry Richardson, a 65-year-old New York photographer famed for sexually explicit images, effectively blacklisting his work from some of the biggest magazines in the world.

The media company acted only after a British newspaper called him the "Harvey Weinstein of fashion" despite the years of allegations.

US model Cameron Russell launched an Instagram campaign called #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse that swiftly garnered more than 70 anonymous accounts of abuse, lewd behavior and harassment.

Finance

Fidelity Investments, one of the biggest finance firms in the world, sacked two senior executives including one who ran a $16 billion tech fund, over sexual harassment allegations, it has emerged post-Weinstein.

The company is presided over by CEO Abigail Johnson, widely considered the most powerful woman in the male-dominated world of US finance.

"We simply will not, and do not, tolerate this type of behavior," a company spokesman told AFP by email.

Food

Celebrity chef John Besh, who fed world leaders and appeared on television, stepped down from his company on Monday following complaints of sexual harassment at his restaurants.

But he denied an abusive culture at his company where women alleged co-workers and supervisors engaged in unwanted touching, made inappropriate comments, and at times tried to coerce women for sex.

"The beginning of the end of institutionalized Meathead Culture in the restaurant business," tweeted celebrity TV chef Anthony Bourdain.

Media

Fox News has long been rocked by allegations that its late former chairman Roger Ailes and ex-star presenter Bill O'Reilly settled multiple allegations of sexual harassment brought by female colleagues.

The New York Times reported last week that O'Reilly, who has since been fired, settled one harassment claim for $32 million in January.

"What on Earth would justify that amount? What awfulness went on?" former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly said on her NBC morning show on Monday.

Leon Wieseltier, a prominent editor at The New Republic, apologized this week after women accused him of sexual harassment, The New York Times reported.

"I am ashamed to know that I made any of them feel demeaned and disrespected," he reportedly wrote.

Music

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson announced late Tuesday that he had "decided to part ways" with longtime band member Jeordie White, whose former girlfriend accused him of rape. "I wish him well," Manson tweeted, offering no further details.

Politics

Former US president George H.W. Bush, 93, issued an apology on Wednesday after an actress accused him of groping her from his wheelchair four years ago and telling a dirty joke with his wife Barbara by his side.

"President Bush would never -- under any circumstance -- intentionally cause anyone distress," said a spokesman.

An open letter is circulating in Illinois that, without naming individuals outlines incidents of powerful male politicians making inappropriate advances toward female staff in the midwestern state.

More than 140 female politicians and staffers signed a similar open letter in California last week.

In Europe, lawmakers debated ways to end all forms of sexual harassment and were due to vote on a resolution on the subject Thursday.

Sport

Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney revealed on October 18 that she was molested throughout her career, starting at the age of 13, by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar, who is facing trial on more than 20 counts of assault, molested her at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, she said.

More than 350 gymnasts were reportedly abused, according to the Indianapolis Star and the scandal forced the resignation of USA Gymnastics chief Steve Penny earlier this year. 

Meryl Streep blasts white male studio bosses over diversity

Yahoo – AFP, Deborah Cole, 14 February 2016

US actress Meryl Streep is president of the jury at this year's Berlinale film
festival (AFP Photo/John MacDougall)

Berlin (AFP) - Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep told young actors at the Berlin film festival Sunday that Hollywood would never resolve the diversity row until studio boardrooms became less white and male.

Giving a masterclass for 300 budding actors from around the world at the cinema showcase, where Streep is serving as jury president, the most acclaimed US film actress of her generation was asked whether sexism and racism in show business had waned over her four-decade career.

"I think it's moving in a very positive direction. I think you have to make noise to have room at the table, for people to move aside and let you pull your chair up to the conversation," she said.

"But in our industry it will always depend on diversity in the boardroom. So all the talk about the lower levels of endeavour -- if the decisions are only made by one group of people whose tastes will decide which kinds of films are made, then only certain kinds of films will be made."

Streep lamented that it was hard to get "40 to 50-year-old white males to be interested in stories about their first wives or their mothers".

"They don't feel invested in this journey and yet younger men are and that's good," she said.

The movie industry is embroiled in a bitter debate about unequal pay between the sexes and a shut-out for non-white actors in the main acting nominations for this month's Academy Awards, for a second year in a row.

'Hags and witches'

Streep, 66, landed in hot water on the opening day of the Berlin festival when she was asked whether she felt qualified to judge Middle Eastern films and responded by emphasising human beings' common origins.

"I've played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures and the thing that I notice is that there is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture," she said.

"And after all we're all from Africa originally. You know, we're all Berliners, we're all Africans really."

Critics using a #wereallafricans hashtag on Twitter called the comment tone-deaf, while others defended her as trying to call for greater inclusion.

Streep said Sunday she had been surprised by her career's longevity, expecting sexism to thwart her much earlier on.

"I always thought my career was over starting at 38 years of age," Streep said.

"In those days I had no reason to think that I would work past 40. You could work to 40 and then you start playing hags and witches," she said.

"That's one reason I didn't play a witch until 'Into the Woods' (in 2014) -- and I had been offered many. It's that trough that women fall into when they're no longer fertile..."

Streep advised the acting students not to become too attached to their sex appeal if they hoped to go the distance.

"You can't have a long career and play a lot of different kinds of characters of all different ages and maintain your magazine cover vanity," she said.

"It's stupid and it's superficial and it's unartistic and who cares?" she said to cheers from the young audience.

Rather die than direct

Asked if she would follow the long trail of acting colleagues from Clint Eastwood to Angelina Jolie into directing, Streep quipped: "Some of my directors would say that I already have," referring to her own hands-on style on set.

"But no, I think it's two different muscles," she said.

"I'm not that quick on my feet to be able to walk around and choose a lens and then," she said, striking a pose.

"It is also a, to me, much more boring job. I don't care where they put the toilets, I'm an actress. I don't have to put on a puffy jacket at four in the morning and location scout. I'd rather die."

Streep joked that her late friend Mike Nichols, who directed her in several films including "Postcards from the Edge" and "Silkwood", used to "drill" her about how other filmmakers worked.

"I told him it's like asking about the other boyfriends, 'Does he do it better than I do?'," she said.

"They are all different. It's the most interesting thing about having a long career, seeing how many different ways there are to get a good result."

British trader jailed for 14 years for rigging Libor rates

Yahoo – AFP, Alice Ritchie, 3 August 3, 2015

British trader Tom Hayes leaves Southwark Crown Court in London,

on July 31, 2015 (AFP Photo/Niklas Halle'n)

London (AFP) - A British trader was jailed Monday for 14 years for rigging the Libor lending rate while working for UBS and Citibank, in a landmark conviction the judge said would send a message to the banking world.

Tom Hayes, 35, is the first person to be found guilty by a jury of rigging the benchmark inter-bank lending rate, a key reference for financial products around the world from consumer loans to savings accounts.

"The conduct involved here must be marked out as dishonest and wrong and a message sent to the world of banking accordingly," judge Jeremy Cooke told Hayes as he sentenced him at London's Southwark Crown Court.

Hayes had denied eight counts of 

conspiracy to defraud between 2006

 and 2010, when he worked for Swiss

 bank UBS and its US rival Citigroup

(AFP Photo/Carl Court)

Many of the world's top banks have been hit by scandals over the rigging of the Libor rate, which is estimated to underpin some $500 trillion of contracts.

Following his arrest in December 2012, Hayes admitted his crimes to Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in a bid to avoid extradition to the United States, where he also faces charges.

However, he later pleaded not guilty, insisting his actions were "commonplace" in the banks.

Cooke said the fact that others were doing the same was "no excuse", saying Hayes played a "leading role" in exerting pressure on and training colleagues in how to rig the rates, and making corrupt payments to brokers for their help.

The manipulation required "sophistication and planning" during more than three years at Swiss bank UBS and nine months at US rival Citigroup, both in Tokyo, the judge said.

"You, as a regulated banker, succumbed to temptation in an unregulated activity because you could," he said, adding that Hayes was motivated by money.

Hayes stared ahead, emotionless, as the court heard the jury had found him guilty on eight counts of conspiracy to defraud between 2006 and 2010. His wife and parents sat in court with bowed heads.

He must serve half of his 14-year sentence in jail, and the rest on conditional release.

'Probity, honesty are essential'

The London interbank offered rate -- Libor -- is calculated daily using estimates from banks of their own interbank rates.

However, the system has been found to be open to abuse, with some traders lying about borrowing costs to boost trading positions or make their bank seem more secure.

Banks including Barclays, UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank have been fined billions of dollars for manipulating the rates.

In the first criminal conviction arising from a British investigation into Libor, a top banker pleaded guilty in October to manipulating rates. The individual and their employer cannot be named for legal reasons.

In the United States, two former traders at Dutch bank Rabobank have also pleaded guilty to manipulating Libor.

"The reputation of Libor is important to the City as a financial centre and of the banking industry in this country," the judge told Hayes in London.

"Probity and honesty are essential, as is trust which is based upon it. The Libor activities, in which you played a leading part, put all that in jeopardy."

British trader Tom Hayes (R) arrives at Southwark Crown court with

his wife Sarah in London on July 27, 2015 (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)

Entire industry 'complicit'

Hayes joined UBS in Tokyo in 2006, where he was paid a salary of £1.3 million ($2 million, 1.85 million euros) before tax.

He then moved to Citigroup, where he earned £3.5 million before tax for nine months' work before being sacked for "compliance" issues.

He worked as a trader in yen Libor derivatives, betting on movements of the daily rate. The judge had previously described him as "by nature a gambler".

Hayes was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome before the trial, but the judge said this was of "no relevance to the issue of dishonesty".

Ben Rose, a partner at law firm Hickman and Rose with experience in the financial services industry, said the conviction was a boost for the SFO which had "a number of other Libor cases in the pipeline".

However, he said it emphasised how "odd" it was that no institutions have been prosecuted for their role.

"When an entire industry... is complicit in a practice it can seem very harsh to pick off isolated individuals," he said.

Grisly Hong Kong murders spark banker backlash

Yahoo – AFP, Judy Ngao, 9 Nov 2014

Hong Kong's Wanchai district where the upmarket apartment of British expatriate 

Rurik Jutting, who has been accused of murder, is located (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Hong Kong (AFP) - The murder of two young Indonesian women in Hong Kong allegedly by a British expatriate has sparked a backlash against wealthy Western bankers accused of treating the financial hub as their own personal playground.

The victims were found mutilated in 29-year-old Rurik Jutting's upmarket apartment in Wanchai, streets away from the neon-lit bars of the neighbourhood's famous red-light district -- popular with expats and tourists at all hours.

Wanchai's neon-lit bars are popular 

with expats and tourists at all hours

(AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

Jutting, who has been charged with the double murder and will next appear in court Monday, was a regular on the strip, and the reported discovery of sex toys and cocaine in his apartment have added to the debauched portrayal of the former Bank of America Merrill Lynch securities trader.

The women's brutal murders and the accusations against Jutting have touched a nerve, triggering criticism of privileged foreign workers in the city's famous finance industry.

"Just like bankers anywhere, they earn top dollar without having many social responsibilities in Hong Kong," says C.H. Lo, 37, a jeweller who has lived in the city most of his life.

"Their disposable income and immoral lifestyle creates a demand for high-end drugs and prostitution.

"The Chinese believe the greatest virtue is to take care of one's own parents when they grow old. But expat bankers generally display a 'work hard, play hard' attitude."

English and Chinese language social media in Hong Kong has lit up with criticism of the behaviour of some Westerners in the wake of the killings.

The windows of the upmarket apartment

 of British expatriate Rurik Jutting, who is

 accused of murder, in Hong Kong's 

Wanchai district, pictured on November 7, 

2014 (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)

"A lot of losers from the West think they are God once they come to Asia. Too bad they give all western expats a bad reputation," said one response to a news story of Jutting's arrest posted online.

"Some expats get to Asia and develop a huge ego and superiority complex, thinking they are above the law, doing things they would never consider in their home countries," said another.

Foreigners also expressed fear for their own reputation.

"Agree, expats should behave better, I can feel our reputation going down year after year because of these scumbags," one post said.

Growing divide

With ongoing pro-democracy protests in the city spurred on by its increasing wealth disparity, there are also those who see well-paid bankers as part of that wider problem.

Hong Kong has one of the largest wealth gaps in the developed world, and a fifth of the population lives in poverty, according to charity Feeding Hong Kong.

"Expat bankers are overpaid and that has contributed to the wealth gap," said 31-year-old media worker Maggie Ho.

Hong Kong has one of the largest wealth

gaps in the developed world, and a fifth of the

population lives in poverty, according to

 charity Feeding Hong Kong (AFP Photo/

Dale de la Rey)

"I think locals have been rather wary of bankers following the Lehman Brothers crisis," she added, referring to the 2008 collapse of the US banking giant.

Jutting's case has also sparked an outpouring of confessional tales from those inside the industry -- stories which fuel its critics.

"The hardest thing to do is to ask corporations and people for money. That's the essence of banking. We had to entertain people a lot," one Hong Kong banker, who declined to be named, told AFP.

"Here, you have access to a broader range of prostitution and it's at a fraction of the price than in New York.

"At one bachelor party in a (hotel) penthouse suite, we would have prostitutes performing a soapy strip dance in the bathroom, while other prostitutes would be performing oral sex on the couch. That's the essence of being a trader -- it's a rock star fantasy and mentality," he said.

"I remember one banker who had so much money that at one recreational softball game, he was just handing out a lot of cocaine."

Wanchai's neon-lit bars are popular with

 expats and tourists at all hours (AFP

Photo/Philippe Lopez)

'Emotional and chemical' highs

The city offers an intoxicating new world for many young Westerners, but some are unable to handle the adjustment, said another Hong Kong banker who also did not want to be named.

"It's easy for the dorky kid in high school to suddenly find himself in the cool crowd at the hottest nightclub, and to keep this high -- emotional as well as chemical -- he's more than willing to throw his inflated disposable income at whoever can keep it going," he said.

But while there are those who go to extremes, bankers should not all be tarred with the same brush, he added.

"There are many bankers who choose not to be a complete jackass... Alcohol is the only thing I consume and in moderation."

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