The Bank of England has suspended an employee pending an internal investigation into a scheme to manipulate foreign currency exchange rates, The New York Times reported.
The bank's Wednesday announcement comes at the same time it is facing criticism for communications that occurred between employees and trade members of an industry committee- several of whom have been fired or placed on leave in relation to currency manipulation.
"The Bank of England does not condone any form of market manipulation in any context whatsoever," the bank said in a statement obtained by The Times. "The bank has today reiterated its guidance to staff regarding management of records and escalation of important information."
England is just part of a larger investigation into several world banks, the U.S. included, suspected of tampering with foreign exchange benchmark rates. JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, Citigroup and UBS are among the banks under scrutiny. Deutsche Bank, the largest in the currency trading market, has fired employees after an internal inquiry. Citigroup has also fired employees, The Times reported.
The Bank of England said it conducted an "extensive review" of nearly 15,000 emails, 21,000 chat room records and over 40 hours of phone conversations. There was no evidence the bank's staff members participated in currency tampering or gave away clients' confidential information, The Times reported.
"The bank requires staff to follow rigorous internal control processes and has today suspended a member of staff, pending investigation by the bank into compliance with those processes," the bank's statement said. The bank did not name the suspended employee, The Times reported.
The bank announced that its oversight committee will investigate bank officials to see if they participated in currency market manipulation.
"No decision has been taken on disciplinary action against any member of bank staff," the bank said, according to The Times.
Travers Smith, a law firm, has been hired to represent the committee. A report from the firm on the investigation "will be published in due course," The Times reported.
