The suspected manipulation of benchmark foreign exchange rates could be as seismic as the Libor cheating scandal, the chief City regulator has suggested, while confirming investigations had been launched into other benchmarks.
Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, told MPs yesterday, “The allegations have been every bit as bad as we’ve had for Libor.”
He hoped to conclude the investigation by next year, he said. At least ten banks are being investigated by the FCA and/or by authorities in the US and Switzerland.
He also confirmed for the first time that the FCA was investigating the alleged manipulation of benchmarks in other sectors as well as foreign exchange — with the gold and interest rate swaps markets understood to be at the