FX Fixing Scandal: BoE Suspends Official and Confirms Currency Dealer Meetings Halted a Year Ago

The Bank of England has suspended one official and confirmed that it stopped meeting a group of top London currency dealers last February following its internal review into allegations that it is involved in the foreign exchange fixing scandal.

In a statement, the BoE revealed that during its internal review into allegations that BoE officials condoned or were informed of manipulation in the FX market or the sharing of confidential client information, it suspended a member of staff, pending further investigation.

"The BoE does not condone any form of market manipulation in any context whatsoever," added the BoE.

"The Bank has today reiterated its guidance to staff regarding management of records and escalation of important information."

It added that the internal review has not found any evidence that BoE staff colluded in any such manipulation or shared confidential client information.

In a separate statement to IBTimes UK, a BoE spokesperson confirmed that the last meeting between central bank officials and the Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee's chief dealers subgroup (CDSG), took place in February 2013.

Rumours surfaced four months later.

The CDSG consists of London's top FX dealers and is usually chaired by the BoE's chief dealer Martin Mallett.

These meetings have existed since 2005 up to four times a year.

At the beginning of this month, BoE officials were accused of giving currency traders the green light over the way they shared customer orders with counterparts at other firms, when they met the central bank's seniors in 2012.

According to documents handed over to the regulator, BoE officials condoned the trading practices, which have now become a central part of the global foreign exchange manipulation investigations.

In January, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Bank of England officials discussed the foreign exchange setting process with chief currency dealers a year before any investigations were launched.

According to the documents, the FX setting was discussed with senior traders at some of the world's largest investment banks in April 2012, despite US, UK and European regulators launching their probes a year later.

Previously, IBTimes UK exclusively revealed that a whistleblower alerted regulators in the US, UK and Switzerland in 2011 about some of the world's largest trading companies and banks manipulating benchmark sterling, US dollar and Swiss franc currency rates.

However, it was not until 2013 that these authorities started investigating the allegations of market rigging.