BRITISH lawmakers will quiz top bankers in the wake of last week’s US$4.3 billion deal with regulators to settle allegations of collusion and manipulation in the foreign exchange market, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

    The source said the decision by the powerful Treasury Select Committee (TSC) had been agreed in principle. But hearings into how traders attempted to rig the US$5.3 trillion-per-day forex market may not be held until December or possibly the New Year.

    The TSC, charged with overseeing finance, had been expected to publicly question bankers and regulators after Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, JP Morgan, Citigroup, UBS and Bank of America struck the agreement with British, U.S. and Swiss watchdogs.

    The latest scandal, less than two years after regulators started slapping US$6.0 billion of fines on banks for alleged benchmark interest rate fixing, sparked fresh political demands for bankers to be held accountable and culpable for misconduct.

    The manipulation of currencies by groups of traders calling themselves names such as the “three musketeers” continued until October 2013 — around 16 months after the Libor interest rate rigging scandal erupted and bankers assured lawmakers that they were getting to grips with changing the culture at banks.

    TSC chairman Andrew Tyrie has already voiced outrage at the forex allegations. He said traders in a position to harm employers, clients or markets should see remuneration deferred for long periods and risk having their licences to practice withdrawn if they behave badly.

    The Bank of England, which fired its own chief foreign exchange dealer after an investigation criticized his handling of suspicious market practices, has also suggested that senior bankers’ fixed salaries might in future be at risk if they or their staff break rules.

    It remains unclear whether the TSC will expand the hearings, the source said.

    (SD-Agencies)