SFO investigates price rigging in foreign exchange market

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of price rigging in the £3tn-a-day foreign exchange market. The probe will look into allegations of "fraudulent conduct", the director of the SFO said in a statement. Around 15 authorities internationally are investigating allegations of collusion and price manipulation. It is alleged that traders used online chatrooms to plan the fixing of benchmark prices. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in October it had joined other regulators around the world in scrutinising firms over the potential manipulation of the foreign exchange market.

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Passenger on Malaysia Flight Shared Eerie Facebook Post Prior to Taking Off

Cor Pan probably didn't realize the effect his post would have when he shared it. The Dutch citizen was aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that was carrying 295 people and was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday. But prior to taking off, Pan took a snapshot of the plane and posted the picture on his Facebook page with the caption that translates to, "If it disappears, this is what it looks like," poking fun at the Malaysia plane that went mysteriously missing in March. The aircraft, which was shot down near the Russian border, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it fell near the city of Donetsk in a war-torn area which has become a stronghold for pro-Russian rebels. All the passengers onboard were killed.

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Incredible Map Shows Airplanes Getting The Heck Out Of Ukranian Airspace

On a normal travel day, the airspace over Ukraine is some of the most congested in the world. It serves as a major cross roads for flights connecting major hubs in Europe with megacities in Asia. However, after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was reportedly shot down earlier today, most of the world's major airlines have ordered their planes to avoid the area completely. The above map, which was tweeted by Newsweek, shows Ukranian airspace a few hours after MH17 lost contact with radar. Two of Europe's largest airlines, Lufthansa and British Airways, have both told Business Insider that they have ordered their planes away from the disputed region. To avoid the Russian-Ukraine conflict altogether, Lufthansa has specifically ordered their planes to take a southerly route over Romania.

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Libya in shock after Tripoli airport attack

Libyans are stunned after two days of fighting between rival militias leaves the country's main international airport out of action. At least eight people have died in the clashes and 12 planes were damaged. The airport remains in the hands of the Zintan militia which has controlled it since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted. The government has been unable to disarm the numerous armed groups that took part in the 2011 uprising and which have divided the country.

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Legal High Mexxy, Alternative To Ketamine, To Be Outlawed

legal high known as "mexxy" is to be outlawed, the Government has announced. It follows concerns that two people whose bodies were found in Leicestershire in February may have taken some form of the drug after buying it over the internet. Methoxetamine, or mexxy, will initially be made illegal for 12 months while Government advisers decide whether to ban it completely. Crime Prevention Minister Lord Henley said: "Making this drug illegal sends a clear message to users and those making and supplying it that we are stepping up our fight against substances which are dangerous and ruin the lives of victims and their families. "But making drugs illegal is only part of the solution. "It is important for users of these harmful substances to understand that just because they are described as legal highs, it does not mean they are safe or should be seen as a 'safer' alternative to illegal substances." Anyone caught making, supplying or importing the drug faces up to 14 years in prison and an unlimited fine. Under the change in law, police and border officials will also have new powers to search or detain anyone they suspect of having the drug and seize, keep or dispose of a substance they suspect is methoxetamine. After its growing use as a party drug, the Home Office referred mexxy to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) for its views on controlling it earlier this month. The drug, used as an alternative to ketamine, is widely available on the internet. Its effects include a faster heart rate, hallucinations, hypertension, loss of balance, higher blood pressure, agitation and cardiovascular conditions. Tests by the ACMD also found evidence that use of methoxetamine can lead to "significant additional toxicity". Professor Les Iversen, chairman of the ACMD, said: "The evidence shows that the use of methoxetamine can cause harm to users."

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Coutts fined for laundering violations

Coutts & Co, the private bank used by Queen Elizabeth II, was hit with the UK’s biggest-ever fine for violating money laundering rules after it failed to conduct proper checks on almost three-quarters of clients that held politically sensitive positions. The wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland was fined £8.75m in the first case to emerge from an industry-wide probe by the Financial Services Authority into the way banks handle accounts of overseas politicians and other clients that could be exposed to corruption. The FSA said Coutts routinely failed to gather crucial information about so-called politically exposed persons – including where their funds came from – resulting in an “unacceptable risk” that the bank handled the proceeds of crime.  Lombard Crackdown gives bankers excuse to stay honest FT Alphaville The Queen in bad financial company? Cole says financial watchdogs need more bite Special Report Money laundering made difficult Coutts fined £6m for AIG mis-selling IN BANKS Jefferies to set up Europe financing arm Jefferies puts debt debacle aside Caixabank offers €980m in shares for Cívica Japan insider deal ruling raises questions Of the 103 files it reviewed, the regulator found deficiencies in 73, including the failure to identify high risk clients and problems monitoring their financial transactions. The issues were centred around clients in the Middle East and eastern Europe, although were not limited to a specific country. The FSA is looking at possible breaches at four other banks as part of an investigation that has taken on new relevance in the light of the Arab uprisings across the Middle East and north Africa. Coutts’ fine related to a three-year period from the end of 2007, a time when it was expanding fast and paying bonuses to staff that reflected the number of new customers they signed up. About 1 per cent of its clients were classified as “high risk” during that time, meaning they or their families were more vulnerable to corruption. In two cases cited in the FSA’s report, Coutts’ private bankers failed to identify serious criminal allegations against clients because their checks were ineffective. In another five, criminal links were found but not followed up and the customers were approved. “Coutts’ failings were significant, widespread and unacceptable,” said Tracey McDermott, acting FSA enforcement director. “Its conduct fell well below the standards we expect and the size of the financial penalty demonstrates how seriously we view its failures.” Coutts said there was no evidence that money laundering took place and had since conducted a “thorough re-engineering” of its systems. The bank qualified for a 30 per cent discount on the fine by settling early. “It was clearly a case that our systems and controls – particularly around documentation – were not up to scratch,” said Michael Morley, chief executive. “We have now put that right.” Coutts had already been penalised for not having controls in place to prevent accounts being used to finance terrorist organisations, as part of a £5.6m fine levied against RBS.in 2010. It was also hit with a £6.3m fine last November for failing to sufficiently explain the risks associated with savings products linked to failed US insurer AIG. In total RBS has been fined more than £25m by the FSA since its government bailout – the most of any UK bank. “Coutts’ failings were pretty egregious and fundamental,” said Sarah Clarke, a barrister with 3 Serjeants Inn. “This puts it in a serious position ... as firms who do not learn lessons from previous action ... inevitably attract close enforcement scrutiny.”

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Russian shot in UK was due to give evidence

 

Russian banker shot five times close to London's financial district had been days away from giving evidence to an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, his lawyer has said. German Gorbuntsov, who at the height of his business empire owned four Russian banks, was walking towards his apartment block near the Canary Wharf banking district when a gunman opened fire on Tuesday evening, leaving him badly injured. London police said on Saturday they were keeping an open mind about the motive of the attack. Gorbuntsov's lawyer, Vadim Vedenin, said the 45-year-old remained in a medically induced coma to give him a chance to recover, and that doctors were hoping to revive him in about three days. Vedenin said his client had been due to give evidence before the end of the month to an investigation by Russian prosecutors into the attempted murder of another Russian banker and former business associate of Gorbuntsov's, Alexander Antonov, in 2009. "He was preparing to give evidence on certain people. He has already given it in written form and he was going to do so in official testimony," Vedenin said by phone on Saturday, adding that Gorbuntsov had come to London because he feared for his life. The attack occurred outside the door of a block of high-end serviced apartments a short walk from the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. A member of the building's staff, who declined to give his name, said he heard no shots, but ran outside when he heard frantic shouting. "He is a customer here. He was still alive. He spoke to us in Russian. I understood what he was saying," the member of staff, a Polish man, said. "He was swearing a lot." LONDON RUSSIANS London is home to thousands of Russian business people seeking capital, prestige and, in many cases, a haven from the rough and tumble of their home country's financial world. Alexander Antonov made his career in the nuclear industry, then became its banker as owner of Konversbank, a financial institution founded to serve the nuclear industry about two decades ago. Antonov said he and Gorbuntsov had disagreed over the terms of a bank sale just before the debt crisis of 2008, but that there had been no acrimony. "Our relationship is friendly, and it has always been friendly," he told Reuters. "I have a great personal interest in his testimony." The attempt on his life in 2009 was linked in Russia to the 2008 murder in Moscow of Ruslan Yamadayev, a powerful opponent of the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The two incidents were tried as a single case and three men were convicted. But the person or persons who ordered the murders was never identified, and the case had lain dormant until this year. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Britain have been tested by a series of disputes involving Russian emigres. Russia has refused to extradite the man suspected of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko by putting radioactive polonium in his tea in London. Meanwhile London courts have refused to extradite men wanted in Russia, including the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider turned fierce critic with criminal convictions in Russia. Berezovsky, who says the charges brought against him in Russia are politically motivated, said by telephone from London that he did not know Gorbuntsov personally, nor did he know of any Russian criminals hiding out in London. "One can give differing views, but it is important to understand that, from my not-exactly-dilettantish point of view, there is no place safer than London from Kremlin bandits or from Russian or international criminals," he said. "But that of course is no guarantee they won't get you."

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