The cache of documents published by regulators alongside the details of the fines has again lifted the lid on the banter between traders involved in rigging the forex markets.
- One trader described himself and his fellow participants as “the 3 musketeers”. He quipped: “We all die together.”
- A chatroom known as “the cartel” was used by euro traders from Citigroup, JP Morgan, UBS, RBS and Barclays. One potential cartel member was allowed to join on a month’s trial but was warned: “mess this up and sleep with one eye open at night.”
- In another chat a Barclays trader sent a message saying: “fooooooooooookkkkk” as an attempt to rig a rate proved challenging.
- One Barclays trader wrote: “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying”.
- A UBS trader said to a colleague: “So the game plan is: i will ask for the price over the hoot (loudspeaker), and i will leave the phone line open for the customer to hear the hoot. so we need to coordinate on pricing.”
