SEC Said to Probe Whether Forex Rigging Distorted Options
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether currency traders at the world’s biggest banks distorted prices for options and exchange-traded funds by rigging benchmark foreign-exchange rates, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The SEC’s inquiry adds to European and U.S. regulatory probes of possible manipulation in currency markets. The SEC’s investigation is in the early stages, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter isn’t public. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates foreign-exchange derivatives, is also investigating possible manipulation, another person said.