Britain's anti-fraud agency said on Monday it has launched a criminal investigation into alleged rigging of the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market. "The director of the Serious Fraud Office has today opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market," the agency said in a statement.
Around 15 authorities around the world are investigating allegations of collusion and price manipulation in the largely unregulated foreign exchange market.
It is alleged that traders used online chat rooms to collude in the fixing of benchmark prices. Scrutiny is focused on activity around London's 4 p.m. currency fix, a 60-second window where key exchange rates are set. These prices are used as reference rates for trillions of dollars of investment and trade globally.
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