Subscribers

Forex rigging turns major banks into felons

For the banks, it's likely to carry more symbolic shame than practical problems

New York

FOR the world's biggest banks, what seemed like the perfect business turned out to be the perfect breeding ground for crime.

The trading of foreign currencies promised substantial revenues and relatively low risk. It was the kind of activity that banks were supposed to expand after the 2008 financial crisis.

But like so many other seemingly good ideas on Wall Street, the foreign exchange business was vulnerable to manipulation, so much so that traders created online chat rooms called "the cartel" and "the mafia". No one government agency is responsible for policing the currency market, leaving it up to committees - some run by the banks themselves - to set guidelines. And even when federal...

BT is now on Telegram!

For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes