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A Swiss national flag flies from a flagpole above Lake Geneva. (Bloomberg) |
ZURICH (AFP) ― Switzerland’s financial regulator on Friday announced it had launched a probe of Swiss companies over alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA, said it was investigating “several Swiss financial institutions”, but did not identify them.
“FINMA is coordinating closely with authorities in other countries as multiple banks around the world are potentially implicated,” it said in a four-line statement, adding that it would be giving any details.
Contacted by AFP, the FINMA declined to elaborate.
Speculation is growing in Switzerland that among the probe’s targets could be UBS, the top player in the Swiss banking market and one of the leaders in the global foreign exchange business.
Swiss financial blog Inside Paradeplatz ― named after the financial hub in the city of Zurich and considered well-informed on such issues ― claimed that UBS recently fired two directors of foreign exchange operations in Zurich and New York.
UBS declined to comment on the blog post, or the FINMA probe.
Rival Swiss big bank Credit Suisse also refused to comment on the FINMA’s announcement.
According to the financial magazine Euromomeny, UBS and Credit Suisse are in the global top 10 on the foreign exchange market.
In a recent ranking, Euromoney placed UBS fourth with a market share of 10.1 percent, while Credit Suisse came in eighth with 3.7 percent.
In June, British regulators also opened a probe against unnamed foreign exchange market players, but declined to identify the companies involved.
Quoting people familiar with that case, the Financial Times said that the Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority started its probe after receiving complaints alleging that banks traded ahead of customer orders and attempted to manipulate benchmarks.
The banking sector has already been shaken by another rigging scandal related to the LIBOR, a rate for lending between banks that also determines numerous financial and interest rate contracts around the world.
UBS was fined 1.4 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion) by US, British and Swiss authorities for its role in that market manipulation.
