Expert Comment From Warwick Business School Dean Professor Mark Taylor On Bank Of England Suspending A Staff Member In Investigation Over Foreign Exchange Rigging

The Bank of England have suspended a member of staff after investigating potential rigging of the foreign exchange market.

Warwick Business School Dean Professor Mark Taylor, a former Bank of England and IMF senior economist and foreign exchange trader said: “These allegations have yet to be proved, but if they do turn out to be true, it will strike at the heart of business ethics.

"It would be yet another blow to the integrity of the banks. Our pension funds invest billions of pounds in the financial markets and if they are being cheated in this way it affects every one of us.

"One solution would be to take away the temptation to do this by taking the London 4pm fix average over an hour - so 30 minutes either side of 4pm rather than 30 seconds. It’s a simple, workable solution because it would be a lot harder, if not impossible, to move a market as big as the FX market for an hour. Removing the incentive is much better than regulation because of the global, decentralised nature of the foreign exchange market.”