"The Cartel" Manipulated FX Prices In Clubby, Personal Environment

Four large banks that controlled nearly 45 percent of the global spot currency market snared oil company BP to join a private club they dubbed “The Cartel” so they could pass along insider trading tips to one another, a Bloomberg report by Liam Vaughan. The Cartel traded against pension funds, mutual funds and other institutional investors who did not have the information. Both social and trading ties ran deep in a secret society operating inside, and some would say controlling, the financial services industry.

The Cartel, BP and time zones

The banks, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Barclays and UBS Group, teamed with client BP in providing...