LONDON, March 11 British oil company BP said none of its currency traders had engaged in inappropriate trading activity, after a media report alleged one of them had received information from a dealer at Lloyds Banking Group. Financial regulators and monetary authorities around the world are looking into allegations that traders colluded to manipulate benchmark exchange rates, a cornerstone of global markets that are used as reference rates by companies, investors and central banks.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Tuesday that Martin Chantree, a senior foreign exchange dealer at Lloyds, shared information with a forex trader at BP on Jan.

Chantree, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing by authorities, did not respond to messages Reuters left at a phone number listed in his name and sent via LinkedIn on Tuesday.

Many people active in the foreign exchange markets say that sharing information with other players is a vital element that allows banks and others to manage the risk they take on when agreeing to fulfill orders for clients and their own needs. Indeed, industry body the ACI says that banks must be allowed to share details of their overall position with others, but differentiate between that and either cartel-like collusion to move the market or the breaking of confidentiality agreements with particular clients by sharing details of their orders, both of which go against the ACI code of conduct.

BP's trading activity in the market was fully compliant and in line with regulations, BP's code of conduct and BP's trading-specific requirements," the spokesman said. Major commodity producers, such as oil companies and miners, need to be involved in foreign exchange markets to hedge risks associated with producing in one currency and selling in others.

BP employs four traders who buy and sell currencies for this reason as well as trading to enhance profits from its main oil and gas business. British bank Lloyds said it was investigating the matter. A spokesman for Britain's Financial Conduct Authority, which is investigating allegations of collusion between traders at banks to manipulate key exchange rates, said it was too early to say whether there would be any regulatory probe of BP.

More than 20 traders at several of the world's biggest banks have so far been placed on leave, suspended or fired as a result of the various probes. Last week, the Bank of England suspended an employee as part of its internal investigation. LONDON, June 21 Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall has bought British home energy supplier iSupplyEnergy, the second foreign company in weeks to seek a foothold in the country's highly competitive domestic energy market.

LONDON, June 21 Britain's government presented a "broad programme" on Wednesday and is confident that parliament will support it, a spokesman for Theresa May said, in a clear nod to the watered down agenda presented by a weakened prime minister. Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.

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BP’s Foreign Exchange Trading Desk Could Face FX Probe Investigations | Finance Magnates

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