Deutsche – Page 6 – Financial Treason & Crime

Jill Treanor, 23 April 2015

Germany’s Deutsche Bank has been fined a record $2.5bn (£1.7bn) for rigging Libor, ordered to fire seven employees and accused of being obstructive towards regulators in their investigations into the global manipulation of the benchmark rate.

The penalties on Germany’s largest bank also involve a guilty plea to the Department of Justice (DoJ) in the US and a deferred prosecution agreement. The regulators released a cache of emails, electronic messages and phone calls showing the attempts to move the rate used to price £3.5tn of financial contracts. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank hit by record $2.5bn Libor-rigging fine”

01/25/201503/18/2021

Article: JP Morgan agrees to pay $100 million to settle a Currency Manipulation Lawsuit in New York

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JP Morgan agrees to pay $100 million to settle a Currency Manipulation Lawsuit in New York

Giambrone, 25 January 2015

Financial service giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reached a $100 million settlement to resolve a U.S. antitrust lawsuit that sought damages for the alleged rigging of foreign currency markets, in which investors accused 12 major banks of rigging prices in the $5 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market in the case of In re: Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-07789.

JP Morgan will pay about $100 million and settled the case after mediation with Kenneth Feinberg, an American attorney, specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, RBS and UBS also settled with regulators in November for an additional $3.3 billion. Continue reading “Article: JP Morgan agrees to pay $100 million to settle a Currency Manipulation Lawsuit in New York”

11/16/201403/20/2021

Article: Common currency: a forex scandal that epitomises the blindness in the banking crisis

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Common currency: a forex scandal that epitomises the blindness in the banking crisis

Andre Spicer, 16 November 2014

The biggest open secret in the financial world has been confirmed. Regulators in the UK, the US and Switzerland have announced massive fines for some of the world’s largest banks for a manipulation of global currency markets that in its callous ubiquity says so much about the banking behaviours that sparked the global financial crisis.

Fines levied by the UK regulator add up to £1.1 billion. The US regulator announced fines of $1.4 billion. Banks hit by these fines include UBS, Citi, JP Morgan, HSBC and RBS. Barclays is yet to come to a settlement on the back of the investigations.

The probe uncovered individuals traders within large banks who were working together in trading clubs which had names you would expect from the “ruthless narcissists” on BBC TV show, The Apprentice. These included “the players”, “the 3 musketeers” and “1 team, 1 dream”.

These clubs worked together to influence the WM Reuters 4pm fix – essentially the official number used to fix currency rates. It shapes everything from how much we pay for currency when we go overseas to how much our pension fund pays when it wants to buy into an offshore investment. This is one of the core numbers in global finance.

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11/12/201403/20/2021

Article: Regulators fine global banks $4.3 billion in currency investigation

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Regulators fine global banks $4.3 billion in currency investigation

Kirstin Ridley, Joshua Franklin, Aruna Viswanatha, 12 November 2014

Regulators fined six major banks a total of $4.3 billion for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market, following a yearlong global investigation.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc, UBS AG and Bank of America Corp all faced penalties resulting from the inquiry, which has put the largely unregulated $5-trillion-a-day market on a tighter leash, accelerated the push to automate trading and ensnared the Bank of England.

Authorities accused dealers of sharing confidential information about client orders and coordinating trades to boost their own profits. The foreign exchange benchmark they allegedly manipulated is used by asset managers and corporate treasurers to value their holdings.

Dealers used code names to identify clients without naming them and swapped information in online chatrooms with pseudonyms such as “the players”, “the 3 musketeers” and “1 team, 1 dream.” Those who were not involved were belittled, and traders used obscene language to congratulate themselves on quick profits made from their scams, authorities said.

Wednesday’s fines bring total penalties for benchmark manipulation to more than $10 billion over two years. Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority levied the biggest penalty in the history of the City of London, $1.77 billion, against five of the lenders.

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04/07/201403/18/2021

Article: Four indicted in Psagot market manipulation affair

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Four indicted in Psagot market manipulation affair

Ella Levy-Weinribo, 07 April 2014

The indictment is against David Edry, Shai Ben-David, Aharon Navon, and Saar Weintraub.

Four years after the Psagot Investment House Ltd. scandal erupted come the indictments: the Tel Aviv District Attorney (taxation and economy) has filed an indictment against David Edry, who was vice president of Psagot’s brokerage manager of the company’s nostro account at the time, Shai Ben-David, former manager of Psagot’s brokerage, Aharon Navon, former manager of Deutsche Bank Israel’s trading room, and Saar Weintraub, who was a broker at Deutsche Bank Israel. Continue reading “Article: Four indicted in Psagot market manipulation affair”

03/07/201403/18/2021

Article: Barclays, Deutsche Bank Accused of Gold Fix Manipulation

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Barclays, Deutsche Bank Accused of Gold Fix Manipulation

Better Markets, 07 March 2014

“Barclays Plc (BARC), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) and three other banks were accused in a lawsuit of manipulating the London gold fix, a benchmark used throughout the $20 trillion market for the metal.”

“Kevin Maher, a New York resident who said he bought and sold gold and gold futures and options, sued yesterday in Manhattan federal court claiming the five banks overseeing the century-old benchmark colluded to manipulate it.” Continue reading “Article: Barclays, Deutsche Bank Accused of Gold Fix Manipulation”

02/28/201403/20/2021

Article: London Gold Fix study suggests decade of bank manipulation

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London Gold Fix study suggests decade of bank manipulation

Bloomberg News, 28 February 2014

The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewellers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say.

Unusual trading patterns around 3 p.m. in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behavior and should be investigated, New York University’s Stern School of Business Professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper.

“The structure of the benchmark is certainly conducive to collusion and manipulation, and the empirical data are consistent with price artificiality,” they say in the report, which hasn’t yet been submitted for publication. “It is likely that co-operation between participants may be occurring.”

The paper is the first to raise the possibility that the five banks overseeing the century-old rate —Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc and Societe Generale SA — may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark. It also adds to pressure on the firms to overhaul the way the rate is calculated. Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are examining the $20 trillion gold market for signs of wrongdoing.

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11/04/201303/20/2021

Article: HSBC dragged into forex probe, reveals profits jump

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HSBC dragged into forex probe, reveals profits jump

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, 04 November 2013

LONDON: A worldwide probe into suspected rigging of foreign exchange deals has reached Europe’s biggest bank HSBC, the bank revealed when it also announced a jump in quarterly profits.
The London-based bank said in its earnings statement that British regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, is conducting investigations alongside several other global agencies into a number of firms, including HSBC, “relating to trading on the foreign exchange market”.

HSBC said it was “cooperating with the investigations which are at an early stage”.

It comes as the British bank announced a 28-percent increase in net profit to $3.2 billion (2.37 billion euros) during the three months to the end to September on major cost-cutting and lower bad debt charges.

HSBC had posted profit after tax of $2.5 billion in the third quarter of 2012.

“Revenue was stable in the third quarter (of 2013), influenced by the mixed global macroeconomic picture,” HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said in a statement.
“Our home markets of the UK and Hong Kong contributed more than half of the group’s underlying profit before tax.”

Gulliver added: “Hong Kong continues to benefit from its close economic relationship with mainland China. We remain well positioned to capitalise on improving economic conditions in these markets.”

HSBC said it would continue to focus on reducing its cost base after savings of $400 million over the third quarter and total cuts since the start of 2011 of $4.5 billion.

“This is well in excess of the target we set out to achieve by the end of 2013. We re-invested part of these savings in risk and compliance, increasing headcount by 1,600 since December 2012,” Gulliver said.

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10/09/201304/12/2021

Article: RBS releases documents over alleged currency manipulation

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RBS releases documents over alleged currency manipulation

Jill Treanor, 09 October 2013

Royal Bank of Scotland has handed the City regulator messages sent by one of its former traders in the latest twist in an investigation into potential manipulation of currency rates.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) began an investigation into the £3tn-a-day foreign exchange market in June following allegations that traders at major banks had found ways to manipulate a closely followed currency benchmark. Continue reading “Article: RBS releases documents over alleged currency manipulation”

07/22/201203/20/2021

Article: HSBC scandal further erodes credibility of UK banking industry

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HSBC scandal further erodes credibility of UK banking industry

AFP, 22 July 2012

London: A scandal erupting at Europe’s biggest bank HSBC has added to concerns over the state of Britain’s financial sector amid the Barclays rate rigging affair and as the industry faces a major shake-up.

HSBC last week apologised and its head of compliance David Bagley resigned after US lawmakers accused the London-based bank of failing to apply anti-laundering rules, benefitting Iran, terrorists and drug dealers.

The HSBC affair follows hot on the heels of the Libor interest rate rigging scandal that has brought down top executives at Britain’s Barclays bank — most notably its chief executive Bob Diamond and chairman Marcus Agius.

Regulators are reportedly investigating HSBC, as well as Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, over alleged manipulation of the Libor rate after Barclays was recently fined £290 million (Dh1.66 billion) over the affair.

Britain’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has said its Libor probe is looking at seven groups, which are not only British institutions.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King has meanwhile proposed that central bank governors and regulators discuss Libor reform at their upcoming meeting in Basel, Switzerland, on September 9.

Barclays has admitted attempting to manipulate the Libor and Euribor rates between 2005 and 2009.

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08/22/201103/15/2021

Article: Deutsche Bank charged in South Korea over stock rout

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Deutsche Bank charged in South Korea over stock rout

BBC News, 22 August 2011

Deutsche Bank’s South Korean brokerage and four of its employees have been charged with illegally manipulating Seoul’s stock market last year.

Korean prosecutors allege the firm earned more than 45bn won ($41.5m; £25m) in unfair trading on 11 November. In a statement, Deutsche Bank denied the charges and said it would defend itself in court.

Seoul’s benchmark share index fell by 48 points, or 2.7%, in the last 10 minutes of trading on 11 November.

Korea’s Financial Services Commission confirmed that about 2.4tn won in sell orders from foreign investors were processed on that day, most of them through Deutsche Bank’s local securities unit. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank charged in South Korea over stock rout”

08/21/201103/18/2021

Article: 4 at Deutsche Bank indicted over stock manipulation

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4 at Deutsche Bank indicted over stock manipulation

Choi He-suk, 21 August 2011

Four employees of Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Securities Korea have been indicted on charges of gaining unlawful profits by manipulating stock prices, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Sunday.

Of the four, three work at Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong branch including one executive. The other is an executive of Deutsche Securities Korea.

The Hong Kong-based individuals have so far refused to comply with the prosecution’s summons. The prosecutors said that if they do not attend the hearing, it plans to request their extradition and to request Interpol’s cooperation if necessary. Continue reading “Article: 4 at Deutsche Bank indicted over stock manipulation”

07/14/201103/18/2021

Article: Deutsche Bank Korea appeals freeze order over stock manipulation

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Deutsche Bank Korea appeals freeze order over stock manipulation

TRADE FINANCE, 14 July 2011

The South Korean of Deutsche Bank AG has appealed a Seoul court’s decision to freeze its assets over allegations that the company pocketed massive profits from illegal stock market trading late November.

The bank lodged the appeal last month in response to the Seoul Central District Court’s order to freeze 44.8 billion won or $42.3 million worth of deposits jointly held by the lender and Deutsche Securities Korea, its brokerage unit, court spokesman Gong Do-il said. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank Korea appeals freeze order over stock manipulation”