Forex fraudster Alex Hope gets seven year sentence January 30, 2015 The Forex fraudster Alex Hope has been handed a seven year sentence for cheating investors out of more than £5m. Hope, who became famous for his extravagant lifestyle and celebrity acquaintances – was sentenced today at Southwark Crown Court, where the judge highlighted the sophistication of the measures he used to convince more than [...]
Forex probe could stop Bank of England access to market data January 21, 2015 The Bank of England risks losing access to vital sources of market data thanks to banks cracking down on traders gossiping, Lord Grabiner warned yesterday. Top barrister Grabiner was hired to investigate what Bank of England staff might have known about foreign exchange manipulation. He found an informal relationship between Bank officials and traders, with [...]
Brokers left bruised – and bust – after Swiss franc shock sends ripples through forex markets January 16, 2015 Yesterday's decision to lift a cap on the Swiss franc against the euro has claimed its first casualties in the form of forex brokers. Foreign exchange broker and West Ham sponsor Alpari has today entered insolvency after the “exceptional volatility and extreme lack of liquidity” prompted by the move. The unexpected decision by [...]
JPMorgan’s fourth quarter blighted by $1bn forex fine January 14, 2015 JPMorgan Chase's fourth quarter earnings have been hit by nearly $1bn (£656m) of legal costs relating to the forex scandal. The bank would have reported an annual increase in net income of more than $500m (£328m) if it had not been for the fees. Instead it was down 6.6 per cent. The figures [...]
Forex trader Alex Hope found guilty of £5m fraud January 9, 2015 Alex Hope, the 25-year-old trader who famously spent £125,000 on a single bottle of champagne, was today convicted of fraud totalling more than £5.5m. Hope had previously admitted operating a collective investment scheme without authorisation. The scam, which has been likened to a Ponzi scheme, claimed to make large returns for investors from the [...]
Forex price fixers may face jail under George Osborne’s new plans December 22, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne yesterday confirmed the government would make price-fixing in foreign exchange markets a criminal offence in 2015. It is part of a larger plan that extends the rules put in place to regulate Libor – a rate at which banks lend to each other – to several other financial market benchmarks. [...]
Forex rigging scandal: London traders could be visited by US prosecutors November 25, 2014 US prosecutors are coming to London, and they’ve got their sights set on the City. Sources cited by Reuters suggest US Department of Justice (DoJ) officials will speak with current or former employees at HSBC and other banks based in the City in the coming weeks, as part of an investigation into foreign exchange [...]
MPs call for banking sector ‘shake-up’ following ‘appalling’ forex scandal November 17, 2014 MPs have said the forex scandal shows the banking sector is still in desperate need of a shake-up. Andrew Tyrie MP and three other former members of the parliamentary commission on banking standards (PCBS) issued a joint statement saying the forex scandal, coming so soon after Libor, shows there's still much work to be done [...]
Five banks are taking back traders’ bonuses because of the Forex rigging scandal November 15, 2014 Five of Britain's biggest banks are preparing to take back millions of dollars worth of traders' bonuses, in an attempt to make reparations for their involvement in the Forex rigging scandal. According to the FT, the banks going ahead with the clawbacks are UBS, RBS, Citigroup, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Earlier [...]
Sainsbury’s Christmas advert, forex fines, Rosetta and the Double Donut Burger: 10 things we learned this week November 14, 2014 1. Sainsbury's has stolen the Christmas ad crown from John Lewis. Maybe. But have either of them done enough to be considered for our Christmas ad hall of fame, which includes a 1950s Coca-Cola number and the 1992 Yellow Pages classic? 2. Bankers' forex rigging was £1.1bn of bad. RBS, HSBC, UBS, JPMorgan and [...]