Article: Revisiting the Northern Bank robbery – the biggest heist in British history

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Revisiting the Northern Bank robbery – the biggest heist in British history

Steven Moore, 04 May 2021

The BBC is taking a fresh look at the biggest heist in British history – the Northern Bank Robbery.

Broadcast on BBC One NI on Monday (May 3) at 9pm, it tells the story of how the multi-million pound robbery played out in the days before Christmas 2004. In a sophisticated operation, the gang took two families hostage for 24 hours, forcing two bank employees to rob £26.5 million from the Belfast cash centre.

With exclusive access to new source material – including police 999 calls along with internal bank CCTV and court documents – they piece together what could have happened.

Through interviews with key players – in politics, policing and financial crime – they uncover what happened to the main suspects in the cross-border police investigation and ask whether the robbery may, inadvertently, have helped the peace process.

The film includes interviews with Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach; Michael McDowell, former Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; Sir Hugh Orde, former Chief Constable PSNI; Dr Mitchell Reiss, US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland under the Bush administration; Tom Kelly, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesperson between 2001-7); and Peter Robinson, former leader of DUP and First Minister of NI.

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Article: Merrill Lynch fined $25 million for multi-year spoofing scheme

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Merrill Lynch fined $25 million for multi-year spoofing scheme

Hayley McDowell, 26 June 2019

Merrill Lynch has been fined $25 million by authorities in the US after admitting it engaged in a multi-year spoofing scheme in the precious metals futures market.

The global commodities trading arm of Merrill Lynch agreed to pay the fine to resolve the US Department of Justice’s investigation into the scheme which saw the firm’s metals traders deceive market participants by placing fraudulent orders for futures contracts.

Merrill Lynch Commodities admitted that from at least 2008 until 2014, its precious metals traders placed orders for futures with intentions to cancel before execution, in a bid to create a false impression of increased supply and demand and manipulate the market. Continue reading “Article: Merrill Lynch fined $25 million for multi-year spoofing scheme”

Article: Credit Suisse fined $135m after FX traders ‘manipulated’ market

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Credit Suisse fined $135m after FX traders ‘manipulated’ market

Hayley McDowell, 17 November 2017

Credit Suisse’s foreign exchange (FX) business has been fined $135 million after regulators found traders manipulated prices, shared customer information and engaged in front running client orders.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) carried out an investigation and found that from at least 2008 to 2015 the investment bank failed to control its FX trading activities. Traders were found to have used a multi-party chat room with code names to discreetly share confidential information on clients and worked together to manipulate currency prices and benchmarks.

Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo explained certain executives within the business had deliberately failed to implement controls in the FX trading business. Furthermore, the investigation found Credit Suisse had an algorithm in place specifically designed to front-run client limit and stop-loss orders. Traders used this information to enter the market, knowing the market might move if the stop-loss or limit order was triggered by the algo. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse fined $135m after FX traders ‘manipulated’ market”

Article: Japanese regulator looks to fine Morgan Stanley for market manipulation

Article - Media

Japanese regulator looks to fine Morgan Stanley for market manipulation

Hayley McDowell

The Trade, 6 December 2016

Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) has recommended that Morgan Stanley be fined based on the findings of an investigation into market manipulation.

The SESC found a trader at Morgan Stanley had placed orders and conducted trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange over a 14-day period in October 2015, without intention to execute.

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