FX 'cartel' traders said to face charges of rigging

Washington

PROSECUTORS are poised to charge currency traders at the heart of one of the biggest US market-rigging investigations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The imminent criminal charges are against members of "The Cartel" chat group, the people said. These traders used instant messages to coordinate the rigging of foreign-exchange benchmarks by sharing confidential customer information, prosecutors have said in antitrust cases that led to guilty pleas by five banks in 2015.