Comment from criminal lawyer in response to the SFO dropping criminal investigation into alleged price-rigging
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has closed a criminal investigation into allegations of price-rigging in the £3tn-a-day foreign exchange market.
Raj Chada is a criminal lawyer at London law firm Hodge Jones & Allen, he says:
“Coming so soon after the Libor acquittals this is a massive blow to the Serious Fraud Office.
“It is interesting that the SFO seem to accept that there was wrongdoing, but despite their massive investigation there is insufficient evidence to prosecute. This could be because there was insufficient evidence against a particular organisation or individual although the investigation suggests a system of wrongdoing. It may lead for calls to re-evaluate how these crimes are defined – in the past there has been calls for a new offence of wrongful trading – or what further powers investigators would have.”