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Germany: Financial authority forex probe ‘much bigger’ than Libor

By  |  May 20, 2014

Germany’s financial regulator, known as Bafin, announced this week that it has discovered evidence of manipulation of the foreign exchange market and that its investigation is “much, much bigger” than that conducted into Libor benchmark manipulation.

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    The authority confirmed that its probe has widened to include even more banks and fines could potentially surpass the billions of dollars sanctioned against lenders for the roles in interest rate benchmarks. According to Bafin’s head of banking supervision Raimund Roeseler, “there were clearly attempts to manipulate prices, and that’s what’s disturbing.”

    His remarks were made at a press conference held annually by the authority, though specifics into what evidence Bafin has uncovered were not revealed.

    He did, however, note that “several currencies were involved” in the alleged manipulation, including the Mexican peso.

    Allegations into forex manipulation have been launched by various authorities across the globe, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, which has not yet found similar evidence of such manipulation.

    Full content: Reuters

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