EX-HSBC trader’s extradition halted

HSBC’S former head of currency trading in London, Stuart Scott, has won an appeal blocking his extradition to the US to face fraud charges.

The UK’S Court of Appeal has overturned an earlier ruling. Judges said Mr Scott’s extradition was “not in the interests of justice and the appeal should be allowed”. They ruled that the alleged “harm took place” in the UK. The US government has indicated an intention to appeal, Anne Davies, Mr Scott’s lawyer, said.

He was charged along with his ex-boss, Mark Johnson, by the US Department of Justice for allegedly frontrunning a $3.5bn (£2.7bn) currency order from Cairn Energy. US prosecutors claim they were among 11 currency traders who drove up the price of the pound by buying sterling, ahead of a trade to convert the proceeds of the Cairn deal from dollars into sterling.

♦ An extradition hearing for the Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya has been postponed until Sept 12 after magistrates asked to see a video of the prison where he will be held until trial. The Indian tycoon denies allegations of money laundering and fraud in the wake of the collapse of his airline Kingfisher.