Ex-Barclays Forex Trader Pleads Guilty In Long-Running U.S. Probe
January 04 2017 - 7:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Aruna Viswanatha
WASHINGTON -- A former foreign-exchange trader at Barclays PLC
pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to manipulate currency
rates, the first individual publicly charged in an investigation
over collusion at top global banks to move the rates.
Jason Katz, who worked on the New York foreign-exchange desk at
Barclays and two other banks, admitted to working between 2007 and
2013 with dealers at other institutions to fix prices for
currencies in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and
Africa, the Justice Department said.
A lawyer for Mr. Katz couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
The efforts included coordinating bids and offers, and agreeing
to quote certain prices to specific customers, the agency said.
Five banks including Barclays pleaded guilty in May 2015 and
paid $5.6 billion in penalties to resolve investigations into
whether the banks worked together to manipulate foreign currency
prices.
In a separate case that grew out of the investigations,
prosecutors in July charged two HSBC Holdings PLC employees with
fraudulently front-running a $3.5 billion currency trade for a
client. The HSBC traders have pleaded not guilty.
According to a plea agreement entered in Manhattan federal court
on Wednesday, Mr. Katz agreed to cooperate in the ongoing
investigation. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
The Federal Reserve separately on Wednesday announced it
permanently prohibited Mr. Katz from working in the banking
industry.
Write to Aruna Viswanatha at Aruna.Viswanatha@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 04, 2017 18:57 ET (23:57 GMT)
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