Traders named in forex scandal

FORMER Citigroup and ex-BNP Paribas traders, who both pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix prices of currencies as part of a US criminal investigation into market rigging, have been named in a South African probe into colluding to manipulate the value of the rand.

South Africa’s Competition Commission identified Jason Katz, who has worked for Barclays and BNP, and Christopher Cummins, who has since left Citigroup, in a complaint submitted to the Pretoria-based Competition Tribunal for prosecution.

Duncan Howes of Barclays Africa Group was also named in the complaint, posted on the tribunal’s website on Friday. Howes, who was with Barclays Africa from at least 2007, was suspended from the lender in May 2015, people familiar with the situation said.

Scheming

Cummins agreed to co-operate in the US investigation after being accused by the Justice Department of scheming with traders at other banks from 2007 to 2013 to fix prices for emerging-market currencies. Katz appeared in a Manhattan federal court in January, where he admitted to participating in a conspiracy with other bankers to manipulate emerging-market currency trades while working at three different financial institutions from 2007 to 2013.

Both Citigroup and Barclays may be spared fines by South African antitrust authorities after co-operating with regulators. The commission identified lenders including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC Holdings, BNP, Credit Suisse Group, JPMorgan Chase. and Nomura International. – Bloomberg