Ex-UBS trader in court on Libor charges Tom Hayes, the former UBS trader at the centre of a global investigation into manipulation of Libor, will indicate how he wishes to plead to eight criminal charges as early as October. A plea hearing for Mr Hayes, who was charged by the UK's Serious Fraud Office last month, was set for the week commencing October 21 by Mr Justice Leonard at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday. Mr Hayes, wearing a dark suit and white shirt with no tie, made his first appearance at the crown court after his magistrates" court appearance two weeks ago. He spoke only to confirm his name and that he understood his bail conditions, which remain in place. In an indication of the complexity and seriousness of the charges, the SFO asked that a High Court judge be assigned to hear the case. Mukul Chawla QC, the SFO's barrister, told the court on Thursday: "To describe [the case's documentation] as voluminous would be a rather large understatement." Mr Hayes is the first individual to enter the criminal courts system in the sprawling worldwide probe, which has resulted in fines totalling $2.6bn so far meted out to Barclays, UBS and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Mr Hayes, 33, was charged in June with eight counts of conspiring to rig the yen Libor rate between August 2006 and September 2010 by the SFO after being arrested in December with two brokers from RP Martin. The two brokers have not been charged. The SFO alleges that Mr Hayes engaged in a conspiracy to defraud with employees at RBS, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, ICAP, RP Martin, Tullett Prebon, Rabobank and HSBC. The US Department of Justice in December also charged him and Roger Darin, a Swiss citizen who was responsible for making and supervising UBS's submissions to the Libor rate-setting process. Neither man has entered a plea to the US charges. Switzerland does not extradite its citizens without their agreement. Mr Hayes began his career as a trainee at RBS in 2001 and joined UBS in 2006. He left the Swiss bank for Citigroup in 2009 but was fired a year later. Around 10 authorities across the globe are probing as many as 20 of the world's biggest financial institutions over the rigging of Libor, the London interbank offered rate, which determines more than $350tn in global contracts, from student loans to interest-rate swaps. Following a number of recent settlements by banks, the next financial services companies that may settle with the regulators are ICAP, the London-listed brokerage, and Rabobank, the Dutch lender, according to people familiar with the cases. No announcement is expected until at least September, and neither company has entered formal settlement talks that signal the final stages before findings are published, they said.