FX Fixing Scandal: Lloyds Launches Internal Review of Currency Trading

Lloyds Banking Group is the latest financial to confirm that it is reviewing its currency trading processes in light of the raft of regulatory investigations into the potential manipulation of the FX markets.

According to a statement by Lloyds, the bank said it has launched an "internal review" of FX trading at the group.

"We are aware that a number of regulatory and enforcement authorities are investigating foreign exchange trading and, as a result, we believe it is prudent to review our own foreign exchange trading over recent years and have commenced such a review," said Lloyds.

The daily $5tn (£3.1tn, €3.7tn) currency market is the largest in the financial system and is pegged to the value of funds, derivatives and financial products.

Morningstar estimates that $3.6tn in funds, including pension and savings accounts, track global indexes.

On 30 October, the Royal Bank of Scotland revealed that it is assessing its currency trading processes in a bid to calm client fears over a potential marketing rigging investigations.

RBS said in a statement that "we are currently considering processes around the benchmark service."

On 23 October, an RBS sales team sent an email to clients to say that it is reviewing how it trades in the minutes before key FX benchmarks are set.

A day before RBS' announcement, Deutsche Bank revealed that its balance sheet was hit by billions of euros of litigation costs which subsequently led the German lender to report a near 100% drop in profits.

Deutsche Bank has allegedly spent millions of dollars going through traders' emails and chat sessions looking for specific dates, phrases and keywords in a bid to root out evidence of wrongdoing.

FX Fixing Scandal Heats Up

In November, HSBC confirmed that it is cooperating with "Britain's Financial Conduct Authority and other regulators related to trading on the foreign exchange market by a number of firms."

HSBC's CEO Stuart Gulliver added that no one has been suspended in relation to the FX fixing investigation as "names given do not work for the bank anymore."

"We haven't suspended anyone. It's at a very early stage and the names we've been given so far don't work for us any more," he added.

On 30 October, Barclays said it is also cooperating with watchdogs over potential FX rigging.

Barclays said it was reviewing its foreign exchange trading "covering a several year period," following a number of global regulators' probes into possible FX fixing.

Since then, six Barclays traders and two RBS traders have been suspended amid global regulators' investigations into potential attempts to manipulate the foreign currency markets, according to reports.

It follows news that Citigroup, Standard Chartered and JPMorgan traders had been put on leave, though not suspended or suspected of wrongdoing, in relation to the same probes.