Singapore charges forex traders for cheating HSBC, Deutsche Bank

[SINGAPORE] Two former foreign exchange traders from HSBC Holdings Plc and Deutsche Bank AG were charged in Singapore for allegedly cheating their employers by making false trades.

The two men, in unrelated cases, bought and sold about US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion) in US dollars in November 2009 using the banks' accounts to get preferential rates for themselves, according to charge sheets filed Thursday with a Singapore state court. They allegedly made wrongful gains of about S$370,000.

Former HSBC senior dealer Ivan Chng, 46, faces 149 charges for about US$870 million of trades to facilitate transactions in his wife's accounts. He allegedly made a wrongful gain of around S$230,000.

Toh Hway Khuan, 49, was charged with 39 counts and made almost US$300 million in US dollar trades. The former Deutsche Bank spot trader is accused of unlawfully making about S$140,000.

Each charge carries a maximum seven-year jail term and a fine of as much as S$250,000.

Chng is no longer an employee of the bank, said Gareth Hewett, a Hong Kong-based HSBC spokesman, declining to comment further. No contact details were available for Chng.

Deutsche Bank's Hong Kong-based spokesman Michael West said Toh's employment was terminated in 2010 and the bank has been assisting the Commercial Affairs Department in its investigation. Toh's lawyer Lee Teck Leng didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Both Chng and Toh are out on bail and the next hearing is scheduled for Feb 13, according to the Straits Times, which had earlier reported the cases.

BLOOMBERG