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South Korea: Barclays, Citi, JPMorgan face forex probe

By  |  June 17, 2015

South Korea is the latest country to open an investigation into the global foreign exchange markets over concerns that alleged manipulation might have damaged its companies.

Jeong Jae-chan, the chairman of South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, told a parliamentary hearing that an investigation had begun, although he did not elaborate.

Six banks have been fined $5.6bn in the past six months by British, Swiss and American regulators for trying to rig the price of various currencies, as part of a worldwide investigation into trading practices.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said the banks had failed to keep a close enough watch on their traders as they teamed up in online chatrooms to manipulate rates in the G10 spot currency markets.

The chatlogs showed traders colluding to alter rates, using nicknames such as “the A-Team”, “the cartel” and “three musketeers” during their exploits.

Full content: Bloomberg

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