The fines follow a year-long investigation by the FCA into claims that the foreign exchange market – in which banks and other financial firms buy and sell currencies between one another, was being rigged. In April this year the FCA said it was particularly looking into the way that firms reduce the risk of traders manipulating benchmarks; ensure confidentiality and control conflicts of interest. It also reviewed compliance with new regulations on the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor), which were introduced in April 2013 following a number of enforcement actions for attempted manipulation of the benchmark.
The FCA found that between January 1st 2008 and October 15th 2013, ineffective controls at the banks allowed G10 spot FX traders to put their banks’ interests ahead of their clients, “other market participants and the wider UK financial system. The banks failed to manage obvious risks around confidentiality, conflicts of interest and trading conduct. These failings allowed traders at those banks to behave unacceptably. They shared information about clients’ activities which they had been trusted to keep confidential and attempted to manipulate G10 spot FX currency rates, including in collusion with traders at other firms, in a way that could disadvantage those clients and the market”.