Bank of England suspends employee amid currency manipulation probe

The Bank of England said it suspended an employee as it began investigating claims officials either condoned or knew of foreign exchange market manipulation. The bank said it suspended the staff member during the investigation even though it found no evidence of its staff colluding in market manipulation or participated in the sharing of client information, the Financial Times reported. In February, Andrew Bailey, who heads the bank's Prudential Regulation Authority, said the financial institution began an internal review into claims that senior foreign exchange traders told bank officials they were sharing information about aggregate client orders ahead of benchmark price fixings. On Wednesday, the Bank of England said it "reiterated its guidance to staff regarding management of records and escalation of important information," a statement the Times said hinted the employee may have failed to keep adequate records of a committee meeting at which senior traders discussed practices around the benchmark fixings. At least a dozen regulatory authorities are either conducting or assisting investigations into alleged collusion and rigging in the foreign exchange markets, which already led to the suspension or dismissal of more than 20 traders in nine banks. Bank of England began its own internal review late last year.