Publication

This brief discusses the large fines applied by the EU and the US to several banks after it was discovered that traders at those banks were involved in rigging foreign exchange markets. The author then explains 1) the regulatory framework which allowed this rigging to take place; 2) how the banks involved in the scandal were also fined for rigging the Libor rates in 2012 and why the scale of the transactions mean that these crimes should not be ignored; and 3) how there is still a long way to go when it comes to removing the "greed is good" culture prevalent among many of the traders who work in the banking sector.