Time  To  Examine  Currency  Markets  By  Christopher  Wakem,  Finance  Law  Adviser  February  20,  2014    In  London,  the  Financial  Stability  Board  has  announced  they  will  be  examining  foreign  exchange  markets.  The  announcement  comes  after  investigations  of  manipulation  of  currency  benchmark  rates.    The  Stability  Board  appointed  a  task  force,  set  up  by  the  Group  of  20  in  2013.  This  task  force  will  study  the  process  of  calculating  foreign  exchange  rates  and  examine  market  practices  around  those  rates.    The  Chairman  of  the  task  force  is  Bank  of  England  governor,  Mark  Carney.  He  has  been  taking  steps  towards  ensuring  transparency  and  reliability  in  global  benchmark  exchange  rates.  The  need  for  more  transparency  stems  from  a  wide  spread  manipulation  from  sources  like  London  interbank  offered  rate,  Libor,  and  other  benchmark  rates.  The  manipulation  of  these  rates  has  cost  banks  billions  of  dollars  in  fines,  but  blatant  bending  of  benchmark  rates  continues.    Assistant  governor  of  financial  markets  for  the  Reserve  Bank  of  Australia,  Guy  Debelle  and  the  executive  director  for  markets  at  the  Bank  of  England,  Paul  Fisher  will  be  part  of  the  board’s  group  examining  the  currency  market.  The  Financial  Stability  Board’s  recommendations  will  only  be  implemented  if  financial  regulators  decide  they  are  appropriate  and  choose  to  do  so.    A  great  number  of  large  banks  like  Citigroup,  UBS,  and  Goldman  Sachs,  have  admitted  that  they  are  receiving  inquiries.  These  inquiries  are  coming  from  Britain,  the  United  States,  and  others  in  regard  to  possible  manipulation  of  the  currency  markets.  Over  one  dozen  currency  traders  from  these  large  institutions  have  been  put  on  leave  because  of  possible  involvement  with  manipulating  currency.  Deutsche  Bank  and  Citigroup  have  even  fired  employees  after  the  companies  conducted  internal  investigations  on  currency  rate  manipulation.    The  increased  pressure  from  governments  has  even  caused  a  few  senior  foreign  exchange  executives  at  a  few  banks  to  step  down  recently  before  they  are  examined.      Christopher  Wakem  is  a  London-­‐based  legal  consultant/contractor  who  has  worked  in  the  independent  bar,  private  practice,  and  in-­‐house  sectors.  He  has  obtained  law  degrees  from  the  University  of  Sheffield  and  University  College.  Mr.  Wakem  has  provide  advice  in  a  wide  array  of  matters,  both  contentious  and  non-­‐contentious,  through  his  company  Lightbringer  Solutions  Ltd.  Chris  has  helped  companies  large  and  small  establish  risk  management  policies,  develop  start-­‐up  procedures,  negotiate  framework  agreements,  secure  insurance  coverage,  and  deal  with  Anti-­‐Money-­‐Laundering  and  Anti-­‐Bribery  and  corruption  matters.