A London pub meeting led to the creation of an FX cartel

Meeting of beer in a London pub led to the formation of a group of traders, called "The Cartel", which illegally manipulate FX market with a daily turnover of $5.1b - says former UBS banker Matt Gardiner.

Gardiner, who is currently a witness working with the state government in the lawsuit against the cartel, claims that in 2007, was presented to Richard Usher of JP Morgan. At that time Usher worked with another broker.

"I really liked it, it looked like a solid man on the ground without a hero," says Gardiner after meeting Usher.

The next day, Gardiner and Usher speaking forum told Reuters that run constant communication system that will soon move in Bloomberg and will include Rohan Ramchandani, former trader from Citigroup, Christopher Ashton, former head of FX trading at Barclays, joining band in 2011.

The members of the cartel usually sent messages throughout the day, with files later on being sent to the court often exceeding 100 pages. Chatting among members includes comic stories, personal questions, market rumors and information.

Prosecutors also claim to have co-ordinated transactions to manipulate interest for their benefit.

Evidence shows that Gardiner, Ramchandani and Usher tell each other about large EUR/USD transactions in quantities that may vary within hundreds of millions.

Source: HITC

Read more:

• A second barrage of missile strikes from Iran against US positions in Iraq has begun
• Jim Cramer’s latest election: Alteryx, Occidental Petroleum and more
• Arvinas, Dropbox, Trinity under the radar of insiders
• Put options for $11 million in a bet that the SPX will fall in December
• A deal is coming, but not the one we all expect