June 27, 2016

Costs of Forex probe are uncovered

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) spent just over £2million on an investigation into alleged rigging of the foreign exchange (Forex market).

The amount of money spent on the probe – which started in July 2014 and ran until March this year – was discovered following a Freedom of Information request.

A breakdown of the figures revealed that around £1.8m was spent in the 2015/16 financial year and £292,000 during 2014/15.

The amount of money that was ploughed into the investigation is likely to lead to further criticism of the organisation, which had previously come under fire for pursuing the matter for almost two years without bringing any changes.

At the time, the SFO said: “Whilst there were reasonable grounds to suspect the commission of offences involving serious or complex fraud, a detailed review of the available evidence led us to the conclusion that the alleged conduct, even if proven and taken at its highest, would not meet the evidential test required to mount a prosecution for an offence contrary to English law.”

Shortly before taking the decision to shut down the investigation, the SFO’s bosses requested additional funding from the Treasury to help meet the costs of investigations.

Royds’ dispute resolution team has a wealth of experience advising clients in the banking sector. For more information please visit or contact Stewart Wilkinson.

Share on: