BP investigated reports of traders' links to foreign exchange scandal.
Oil giant BP faces being drawn into the foreign exchange rigging scandal after it emerged that it has been investigating whether its traders were linked to the manipulation of the £3 trillion-a-day market.
The British-based group said it had carried out a review of its activities after global regulatory probes which resulted in six banks last month being fined £2.6bn for rigging the market.
Details emerged after reports that members of a BP trading unit were told of planned currency trades hours before they happened.
News service Bloomberg said it had seen copies of messages sent to the oil giant's staff from firms whose senior forex traders belonged to a chat room known as ‘The Cartel’.
However there was said to be no evidence that any BP traders were members of the Cartel or that anyone at the oil firm acted on information given to them.
BP said in a statement: "Following regulatory market (not into BP) investigations regarding the foreign exchange markets, we conducted a review into our activities in this area.
"BP's foreign exchange desk has relationships (as a customer) with 26 relationship banks, including JP Morgan, Citibank and Barclays."
JP Morgan and Citibank were both among those fined last month while Barclays, though yet to finalise a settlement with regulators, has set aside £500m over the affair.
The BP statement added: "BP has a robust framework of compliance requirements and internal controls which are constantly reviewed, and maintains an open dialogue with the appropriate regulators.
"BP's code of conduct includes mandatory requirements for employees to disclose potential conflicts of interests internally. Following such disclosure, steps are taken to manage and monitor these appropriately."
BP said it did not discuss internal reviews, adding: "We have an open and co-operative relationship with our regulator. Any discussions we have are confidential."
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BP investigated forex traders amid 'cartel’ fixing claims.
British energy giant BP admits it 'conducted a review' of its mainly London-based trading operation.
By Telegraph staff.
11:00PM GMT 30 Dec 2014.
BP has investigated whether traders on its foreign exchange desk were involved in the manipulation of the $5.3 trillion a day currency market, it emerged on Tuesday night.
The British energy giant admitted it had "conducted a review" of its mainly London-based trading operation after regulators in the UK and US began their own probes late last year.
BP's appearance in the foreign exchange scandal, which has seen one London banker arrested and six banks fined a total of £2.7bn , came after reports that members of the company's treasury trading unit had been told of planned currency trades hours before they happened.
Bloomberg claimed it had seen copies of messages sent to BP staff by a group of senior foreign-exchange traders at JP Morgan, Barclays, UBS and Citigroup, who met in a chatroom named "The Cartel".
Bloomberg alleged that a BP trader had used a chatroom with a JP Morgan trader. However, there’s no evidence that any BP traders were members of The Cartel nor that anyone at BP acted on information allegedly passed to them.
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In a statement, BP said: “Following regulatory market (not into BP) investigations regarding the forex markets, we conducted a review into our activities in this area. BP’s forex desk has relationships (as a customer) with 26 relationship banks, including JP Morgan, Citibank and Barclays.
“BP has a robust framework of compliance requirements and internal controls which are constantly reviewed, and maintains an open dialogue with the appropriate regulators.”
A source told The Telegraph that BP did not find any wrongdoing and closed its investigation.
BP declined to comment on individual staff members, but said that its “code of conduct includes mandatory requirements for employees to disclose potential conflicts of interests internally”.
Dozens of bankers have been suspended or fired in relation to forex manipulation, and Chancellor George Osborne wrote to the Serious Fraud Office saying it would be given a blank cheque to investigate wrongdoing.
JP Morgan declined to comment.
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BP says reviewed forex desk in light of regulatory probe.
(Reuters) - BP ( BP. L ) reviewed the activities of its in-house foreign exchange traders, the British oil and gas group said on Tuesday, after the Financial Times reported that BP was investigating whether its traders were involved in rigging the currency market.
The newspaper’s report cited a person familiar with the matter as saying BP’s internal review of its currency trading operations in London was “ongoing.”
The FT reported that the investigation, which is not being carried out by any financial regulator, was prompted after a Bloomberg report cited undated messages sent to BP’s employees by a network of foreign-exchange traders at four major banks about planned currency trades “sometimes hours before they happened.”
Asked to comment on the FT report, BP issued an ed statement that said: “Following regulatory market (not into BP) investigations regarding the FX markets, we conducted a review into our activities in this area. BP’s FX desk has relationships (as a customer) with 26 relationship banks, including JP Morgan, Citibank and Barclays.”
Last month, financial regulators in the United States, the U. K. and Switzerland fined six major banks a total of $4.3 billion (3 billion pounds) for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market. The fines followed a year-long global investigation.
The European Commission also has been investigating allegations that BP manipulated oil and biofuel prices.
Reporting by Ankush Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
BP probes in-house foreign exchange traders.
BP is investigating whether in-house financial traders at the oil and gas group were involved in a foreign exchange manipulation scandal that has led regulators to levy $4.3 billion in fines on six banks.
The UK group launched an internal review of its currency trading operations in London last year when regulators first started probing banks over their foreign exchange activities. A person familiar with the situation said the inquiry was "ongoing".
Additional questions about the potential involvement of BP's traders in alleged attempts to rig the world's $5.3 trillionn-a-day forex markets have been prompted by a Bloomberg report that bank employees tipped off the oil and gas group ahead of some big currency trades.
Bloomberg cited three undated messages sent to BP's traders by the powerful network of senior foreign-exchange traders calling themselves "The Cartel" at four banks — JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, UBS and Citigroup. It said BP was given "valuable information" about planned currency trades "sometimes hours before they happened". But it could not be determined whether any BP employees acted on any information received.
BP is not being investigated by financial regulators, said people familiar with the situation. But the report raises uncomfortable questions for the group at a time when it is being scrutinised as part of the European Commission probe into potential price fixing in oil markets.
More from the Financial Times:
In an ed statement, BP said: "Following regulatory market (not into BP) investigations regarding the forex markets, we conducted a review into our activities in this area. BP's forex desk has relationships (as a customer) with 26 relationship banks, including JPMorgan, Citibank and Barclays.
"BP has a robust framework of compliance requirements and internal controls which are constantly reviewed, and maintains an open dialogue with the appropriate regulators."
The group's treasury trading unit is responsible for managing its exposure to financial risks, including currency fluctuations. But it also operates as a profit centre, aiming to make money by betting on the direction of markets as well as hedging risks.
Bloomberg said Andrew White, a member of BP's treasury trading unit, had joined at least one electronic messaging conversation with members of "The Cartel".
BP declined to comment on that allegation. But it said Mr White still worked for the group and added that its "code of conduct includes mandatory requirements for employees to disclose potential conflicts of interests internally".
Spot forex traders are not required to seek authorisation from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and Mr White is not on the FCA's list of "approved persons".
Last month, six banks — JPMorgan, Citigroup, UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of America and HSBC — paid a total of $4.3bn to US, UK and Swiss regulators to settle allegations that their weak controls failed to prevent traders attempting to manipulate forex.
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