Heated exchange: Former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes allegedly offered brokers curry in return for help with currency trades

Six brokers – including one nicknamed ‘Lord Libor’ – conspired with a currency trader to fix Libor rates in exchange for offers of treats such as takeaway curries and drinks, a court heard.

The men are alleged to have helped former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes manipulate the key interest rate over a period of four years.

Hayes, who was convicted of conspiracy to defraud this year and sentenced to 14 years in jail, asked them for help getting the Libor rates set in his favour, Southwark Crown Court heard.

The jury was shown messages sent using the Bloomberg Chat service between some of the men and Hayes in 2006, when he was working for UBS in Tokyo, in which he offered to pay for curries if they helped him with multi-million-pound yen currency trades by manipulating the Libor rate.

The six men – who worked at British brokers ICAP, RP Martin and Tullett Prebon – are accused of conspiracy to defraud.

One defendant, Colin Goodman of ICAP was nicknamed Lord Libor as he was so influential in setting the rate, the court was told.

In one BC message in October 2006, Read, who worked for brokerage ICAP, told Hayes he could help him with a Libor rate, adding: 'Got to buy the cash boys a curry this week.'

Hayes replied: 'I should pay it for them.'

Read then said he would put it on his expenses. In another message series discussing a trade a few days later, Read said to Hayes: 'A £50 curry was cheap then?' Hayes replied: 'Yes mate. Whatever it takes, bill me.'

In an email around the same time, during his first weeks working in Tokyo, the court heard Hayes wrote: 'Should be good news today, Libor went up half a base point. Well done Darrell and Terry (Farr). I owe them a beer.'

The court heard that Read, whose shift pattern was altered to allow him to work with Hayes while in a different time zone, would use ICAP colleague Goodman to manipulate Libor on Hayes's behalf.

The jury has previously been told Goodman's nickname was Lord Libor.

In an October 2006 email exchange with Read over setting Libor rates, Goodman told Read: 'K10 (a restaurant) for lunch or cash would be preferable. Out for curry tonight.'

He signed the email 'MLord', the court heard. Read replied: 'K10 it is.'

Prosecutor Mukul Chawla QC told the jury: 'It is small things like beers or a curry. The process is not so trivial.'

He added: 'Each of the defendants was offering their enthusiastic assistance. Here is an early example of that.'

Libor is the term for benchmark rates which underpins hundreds of trillions of pounds of contracts, from mortgages to corporate lending.

The jury was shown messages between some of the men and Hayes in 2006, in which he offered to pay for curries if they helped him with multi-million-pound yen currency trades by manipulating the Libor rate

The trial, set to last 12-14 weeks, will look at the alleged role of the brokers from firms including ICAP, Tullett Prebon and RP Martin. Cryan worked for Tullett Prebon. Read, Wilkinson and Goodman worked for ICAP while Gilmour and Farr worked for RP Martin.

Hayes had discussions with the men in which they discussed manipulating Libor rates one, three and six months out, the court heard.

On October 10 2006 Hayes asked Read to 'try to get six months up today for me please'.

Read replied: 'Do my best mate,' the court was told.

Hayes contacted Farr the same day to say: 'Get six month Libor up please mate, and one month too. Please get three month lower but in general want Libor high please.'

Around a week later Hayes asked Read to persuade a friend at a different bank to alter the six-month Libor rate, saying he had a 'fix' worth about 350 billion Japanese Yen - then around £1.75 billion - depending on it, jurors were told.

On another occasion Hayes told Read he had 'lost a fortune', and Read replied 'S**** ... will push as high as I can', the court heard.

The jury was also played a recording of a phone call between Farr and another man in which Farr asks him to lower the Libor rate as a 'personal favour' to someone who has 'a massive fixing'.

In a second call to another man, also played in court, Farr asks him to lower a Libor rate as 'a favour for a geezer at UBS' who is 'a mate and he does us a lot of favours'.

The prosecution allege that both of these are a reference to Hayes.