LONDON – Deutsche Bank has suspended several traders amid a series of investigations into potential manipulation of the $5-trillion-a-day foreign exchange market, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The traders who were placed on leave worked in the German bank’s offices in New York, the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said on Wednesday.
The suspensions are the latest development in a series of inquiries that have again raised questions about the global banking industry. More than a dozen traders at some of the world’s largest banks have been placed on leave amid questions about whether they colluded to fix benchmark currency rates.
Deutsche Bank, the largest trader of currencies with about 15.2 percent of the market, said it was cooperating with the investigations and would “take disciplinary action with regards to individuals if merited.”
The German newspaper Die Welt reported that at least one trader who worked in New York and traded Argentine pesos had been suspended.
Authorities in the United States, Britain, Switzerland and Hong Kong have all begun investigations, which are in the early stages.
Many of the world’s largest banks, including Citigroup, Barclays and UBS, have acknowledged that they are subject to those inquiries. Neither the banks nor any of the traders who have been suspended have been accused of wrongdoing.
Since the investigations became public, several banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, have restricted the ability of traders to engage in chat rooms where traders from their banking rivals are present.
The investigation has focused on a series of instant messages that earned traders at various banks the nickname “the cartel.”
The foreign exchange market is lightly regulated, and banks that dominate the marketplace control the information about how currencies are priced.
The inquiries have come even as many of the banks are trying to move past another financial scandal: allegations that some of their employees rigged Libor, or the London interbank offered rate, and other benchmark interest rates.
The European Commission fined a group of financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, a combined 1.7 billion euros, or $2.32 billion, in December to settle claims that they colluded to manipulate benchmark interest rates. It was the largest penalty ever assessed by European competition authorities.
That action came after regulators in the United States and Britain assessed penalties of more than $3 billion.