Commerzbank has suspended two currency traders for allegedly trying to manipulate exchange rates, in a move that pulls Germany's second-largest lender into the sprawling global foreign exchange investigations.
The Frankfurt-based bank suspended one person within the last two weeks and one person in February after discovering evidence that suggested the two had tried to manipulate the euro and the Polish zloty, according to people familiar with the situation.
The news comes after Germany's financial regulator BaFin warned on Tuesday that it had found concrete evidence that traders at German institutions had tried to manipulate the €5.3tn-a-day global foreign exchange market.
Raimund Roeseler, head of financial regulation, said at a conference in Frankfurt that the regulator had found evidence that multiple currencies had been subject to attempted manipulation. He also warned that evidence of manipulation had been found at more than one institution, although he declined to single out lenders by name.
Commerzbank confirmed the suspension after what it said was a breach of its internal rules. "Commerzbank has zero tolerance for non-compliance with rules and regulations, and has taken immediate action upon the discovery of inappropriate conduct," said a spokesman. "We believe this incident was an isolated event and one from which the bank and the individuals concerned in no way profited."
The suspension of the two traders at Commerzbank makes it the second bank in Germany to be caught up in the manipulation probes. In recent days Deutsche Bank confirmed it had terminated five currency traders in the Americas, with other employees receiving "disciplinary measures". Not all of the traders were let go for suspected manipulation, according to a person familiar with the situation.
<
The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.
>BaFin's disclosure this week makes it the first financial regulator to confirm it has found evidence that traders tried to manipulate the global foreign exchange market amid an investigation by more than 15 authorities across four continents.Switzerland's competition watchdog Weko said in March it had spotted potentially illegal activity by banks in foreign exchange trading.
The probes into possible rate rigging in the global foreign exchange market has so far led to the suspension, placing on leave or firing of at least 32 people at 11 banks, as well as the Bank of England.
© The Financial Times Limited 2014. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation