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Benjamin Lawsky, New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services and the DFS headquarters at 25 Beaver Street.
The foreign-exchange trading business was in upheaval across Wall Street as senior executives resigned and others were fired amid an expanding probe of possible currency manipulation.
Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, asked more than a dozen firms including Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Citigroup Inc. (C) for documents on their currency-trading practices, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Deutsche Bank, the top foreign-exchange trader, fired four dealers after an internal probe, people with knowledge of the move said. Goldman Sachs lost two partners while Citigroup said its foreign-exchange chief will leave in March.
Lawsky's investigation is at least the 12th opened by authorities in Europe, the U.S. and Asia since Bloomberg News reported that traders at the world's largest banks colluded to manipulate the benchmark WM/Reuters rates. Even staff who aren't being probed are reassessing career plans as the scandal forces firms to change fundamental practices as revenue falls.
The Libor Scandal Sets Off a Wave of Probes
"Currency traders are now sitting in an unprecedented and unwelcome spotlight," said John Purcell, chief executive officer of Purcell & Co., a London-based executive-search firm. "Regulatory pressures, scandals and attendant reputational issues are making it a much more challenging environment."
At least 16 traders have been suspended or put on leave amid the global probe. Citigroup last month fired European spot trading chief Rohan Ramchandani.
Comment: This remains an unpunished war crime that Britain ought to have paid reparations for.
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