U.S. looking at alleged forex manipulation
i'm shocked
they said the Forex market could never be manipulated 
:):)
In the end they will all be innocent as lambs. And that news published at Reuters (that is selling milliseconds, seconds, minutes and hours of early data "preview")
Word "alleged" must be cut out of English language...it's been abused recently...don't remember it's being used often few decades ago...
:):)
UPDATE 2-Swiss finance ministry retracts comments on forex market rigging | Reuters
Forex Probe Eyes Chat Room
Authorities in the U.K. examining potential rigging of currency markets are focusing on an electronic chat room populated by top traders at financial institutions, according to people familiar with the matter.
The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority began its investigation into practices in the foreign-exchange market in June. It asked several of the largest banks in the business to examine emails, chat transcripts and other electronic communication, these people said.
That search turned up a group of traders that was known by various monikers, according to people familiar with the matter. Among them were "The Club," "The Bandits' Club," "The Dream Team" and "The Cartel." Neither the full scope of the discussions in the chat room nor its role in the $5 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market were clear. Its membership—which one person said changed over time and numbered a half-dozen or more—also wasn't clear.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group RBS.LN -2.08% PLC already has turned over electronic communications of a former employee to the FCA, another person familiar with the matter has said.
A spokeswoman for the FCA didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The FCA began its probe in June, and last week the Swiss market regulator said it was examining banks as well. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Washington office has begun a criminal investigation into possible rigging of foreign-exchange markets, according to people familiar with the matter. News of the FBI's probe was reported Friday by Bloomberg.
The investigations into the currencies market follow a scandal over rigged interest rates that has enveloped Wall Street and the City of London.
Last week, the Swiss regulator said "multiple banks around the world are potentially implicated" in the currency-market investigation.
The FCA has had discussions with several banks, among them J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and RBS, according to people familiar with the matter.
No banks have been charged in the various currency probes.
Among the concerns is the practice of currency "fixes"—daily snapshots of trading that are used by money managers and others for valuing portfolios and other purposes. The fix—the most popular is at 4 p.m. London time—is computed from market activity in a brief window.
Some investment firms and investment advisers have long worried that clients don't get the best prices when submitting orders intended to be processed at the fix price.
Forex manipulations using simple chat rooms : you must admit that the idea is good :):)
Barclays, Citigroup, RBS FX Messages Said to Be Examined
An instant-message group involving senior traders at banks including Barclays Plc (BARC), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is being scrutinized by regulators investigating potential manipulation of the foreign-exchange market, four people with knowledge of the probe said.
Over a period of at least three years, the dealers exchanged messages through Bloomberg terminals outlining details of their positions and client orders, and made trades before key benchmarks were set, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the inquiries are continuing.
The roster of firms changed over time and included other banks such as Zurich-based UBS AG (UBSN) as the men switched employers, one of the people said. Two traders who weren’t involved in the conversations and who asked not to be identified because they do business with the people involved said that they and others in the market referred to the message group as “The Cartel.”
Regulators are weighing whether those messages amounted to attempts to manipulate the market, two people said. The four banks account for more than 40 percent of trading in the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market, according to a survey by Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority this week opened a formal probe into currency trading, joining a global investigation that also involves regulators in the U.S., European Union and Switzerland.
“If the information shared is sufficiently precise to indicate collusion, then the regulators will have a case for prosecution,” said David Corker, a lawyer at Corker Binning in London.
U.S. confirms criminal probe of forex manipulation
A top federal prosecutor said on Tuesday the U.S. Justice Department was investigating possible manipulation in foreign exchange rates, in the first public acknowledgement of such a probe.
"The Criminal and Antitrust Divisions of the Justice Department have an active, ongoing investigation into possible manipulation of foreign exchange rates," Mythili Raman, the acting head of the department's criminal division, said in a statement to Reuters.
U.S. confirms criminal probe of forex manipulation (2)
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the manipulation of foreign exchange rates, a top federal prosecutor said on Tuesday, in the first public acknowledgement of such a probe in the United States.
Criminal and antitrust authorities have an "active, ongoing investigation" into the possible manipulation, Mythili Raman, the acting head of the department's criminal division, said.
The confirmation comes on the same day Dutch bank Rabobank agreed to pay more than $1 billion (623 million pounds) to resolve allegations that it manipulated Libor and other benchmark rates. And other European banks that face related probes disclosed they set aside major sums to cover legal costs.
Over the past two years, regulators and prosecutors have extracted billions in fines from global banks after finding that they rigged Libor, the average rate at which a panel of banks expects to borrow money.
The Libor rates have been susceptible to manipulation because they are based not on specific transactions, but on a survey of where banks think they can borrow.
As a result, authorities have turned to other benchmarks, including those that undergird the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market, to investigate whether they are open to similar kinds of skewing.
Regulators in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong said earlier this month they were investigating the conduct in currency markets.
COOPERATION FROM BANKS
U.S. prosecutors will use information provided by the banks that have already resolved Libor charges to investigate the other benchmarks, Raman said in an interview.
Banks including Barclays (BARC.L), UBS AG (UBSN.VX), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), and now Rabobank RABO.UL have paid more than $4 billion to date and have agreed to turn over all information that the Justice Department asks of them for at least two years as part of their settlements.
"That's one of the most significant benefits that law enforcement has been able to secure as part of this investigation," Raman said.
Raman said she could not comment on any details of the investigation, but Reuters previously reported that authorities were examining allegations centred on the Swiss franc.
Switzerland's UBS also disclosed on Tuesday that it had received requests from "various authorities" relating to its foreign exchange business.
The bank, which paid $1.5 billion last year to resolve Libor charges, said it had taken "swift action" to review how it trades foreign exchange.
The chairman of rival Credit Suisse said earlier this month his bank had not found any evidence of misconduct in the forex market following inquiries from regulators.
Also earlier this month, RBS handed Britain's financial regulator instant messages sent by a former currency trader to counterparts at other banks.
The Libor settlements "basically bind all of these institutions to a kind of long-term cooperation with all involved enforcement authorities," said Robertson Park, who prosecuted the Libor case against Barclays and is now in private practice at the law firm Murphy & McGonigle.
This gives law enforcement "a huge leg up," he said.
RBS traders suspended in forex probe
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has suspended two traders in connection to a growing investigation into the possible manipulation of foreign exchange rates.
The news follows reports that London-based executives at three other major banks have been placed on leave.
Regulators in the UK, US and Switzerland are looking into whether banks colluded to set exchange rates.
The global foreign exchange market is worth more than £3tn a day.
London is the most important centre for the market, accounting for about 40% of all foreign exchange trading.
The reports are that executives at Citigroup, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered have agreed to be placed on leave, but none has been accused of any wrongdoing.
They are Rohan Ramchandani of Citigroup, Matt Gardiner of Standard Chartered and Richard Usher at JP Morgan.
RBS declined to comment. It is among several banks believed to have been contacted by regulators in recent weeks about foreign exchange dealing. Others include Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Barclays.
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The U.S. Justice Department is making inquiries into allegations of foreign exchange rate manipulation centered on the Swiss franc but has left the heavy lifting to Europe, according to a source familiar with the probe.
The Justice Department spoke with participants in the probe but is letting officials in Europe take the lead in any investigation, said the source, who could not be named to protect business relationships.
Two traders from an unnamed Swiss bank have been let go in connection with the allegations, said the source.
Investigations into the $5 trillion-a-day market have broadened, with authorities in Switzerland and Britain looking into whether traders at banks sought to manipulate benchmark foreign currency rates.
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