Bloomberg
A former JPMorgan Chase & Co banker was convicted of conspiring with traders at other banks to rig bids and fix prices in currency markets — a victory for prosecutors in their campaign against collusion in foreign exchange.
Akshay Aiyer was found guilty by a federal jury in New York that took less than four hours to reach a verdict, following a trial that lasted more than two weeks.
Aiyer was found guilty of a single count of conspiracy to violate antitrust laws. He’s the second person to be convicted in a crackdown on dubious practices used by currency traders. Prosecutors had relied on testimony from two alleged conspirators, former Citigroup trader Christopher Cummins and ex-Barclays banker Jason Katz, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Cummins and Katz testified that the traders plotted in chat rooms, on the phone and at social gatherings to rig trades while leading customers to believe that they were actually competing with each other.