A group of core traders from several major banks goes by the informal nickname ‘the cartel’ owing to the closed communications through an exchange of instant messages. Federal investigators suspect that this cartel has been responsible for manipulating organic market conditions for their benefits. Much like the model of rigging the price of animal feed and vitamins, apparent competitors hatched secret alliances to rig the currency market. The Federal investigators, under the authority of US Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr are reviewing the cache of closed messages from the members of the alliance aligned with major banks like Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland, and the Barclays. Reportedly, the investigators have been able to ensure the cooperation of at least one key member from the group.
The signs from the Federal Authority are clear and indicating a legal crackdown of the highest order. The Attorney General himself confirmed that the current revelations may only be the ‘iceberg tip’ and the process is going to culminate in ‘extremely consequential’ repercussions. The authority is currently in the process of investigating whether the traders rigged the costs of foreign currencies, which remains to be the largest and minimally regulated financial market. Following the rigging of the currency relative prices, the traders supposedly flooded the market with offers that increased the currency cost for the clients, thereby aiding in the profits of the banks.
There was no comment from any of the banks in discussion. There has been no accusation of wrongdoing on any single officer and apparently only a few core people form the cartel. So, any crackdown is likely to limit within this core group, causing minimum damage to the overall banking system. In fact, the accused group has also been undertaking reputation management exercises. A prior member from the cartel went ahead to explain that the nickname only reflected a collaboration of successful people, and not any illegal collusion with negative interests in destabilizing the financial system. However, extensive multilayered investigations are underway that may soon reveal the truth and facts about the situation.
This extensive lookout in the internal operations of the major banks is in line with a spate of similar investigations into the manipulation of global interest rates by the banks. This scrutiny is definitely sending unsettling shockwaves into the core banking structure ensuing in fast actions to exterminate the corruption within the system. Nine of the largest currency trading banks recently admitted to the ongoing enquiries. About a dozen of the core traders have been on leave even before the pending outcome of the inquiry.
Several banks are also contemplating the idea of limiting the ability of traders to communicate electronically. The global currency market accommodates an average daily trading figure of $ 5 trillion, making it bigger than any bond or stock market. Even a small manipulation of this huge volume of daily trading can lead to heavy illegal profits. The investigators are working on topmost priority basis in uncovering the scam infecting the overall global financial system. 
