[Infowarrior] - Swiss authorities investigate potential manipulation of £3tn currency markets

[Richard Forno]

Swiss authorities investigate potential manipulation of £3tn currency markets

	• Jill Treanor
	• theguardian.com, Friday 4 October 2013 06.26 EDT

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/04/switzerland-foreign-exchange-manipulation-currency-markets-banks

Currencies are traded on some of the most liquid and active markets in the world. Photograph: Alamy
Switzerland is investigating several financial firms over the potential manipulation of currency markets where £3tn changes hands every day.

The country's markets regulator said that "multiple banks around the world" were also potentially involved in an investigation that will raise fresh questions about the integrity of financial markets.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority said in a brief statement: "FINMA is currently conducting investigations into several Swiss financial institutions in connection with possible manipulation of foreign exchange markets. FINMA is co-ordinating closely with authorities in other countries as multiple banks around the world are potentially implicated."

The regulator said it would give no further details on the investigations or the banks potentially involved.

In June the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, launched an investigation into potential manipulation of currency markets and the role of benchmarks in some of the most liquid and activity traded markets in the world.

The FCA investigation emerged after a Bloomberg report alleged that traders at banks were putting in orders ahead of a 60-second window when benchmarks for a series of currency indices run by WM Reuters, a joint venture between the WM company and Thomson Reuters, were set.

The role played by benchmarks in financial markets has been highlighted since the Libor-rigging scandal exposed traders at banks and financial firms around the world manipulating the key standards for interest rates. Barclays was the first major bank to be fined, paying £290m in June last year, but others have since followed including Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and more recently the interdealer broker Icap.


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