6 foreign banks under probe in Taiwan for alleged FX speculation – Bloomberg

Taiwanese authorities are investigating six foreign lenders, including Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, for allegedly helping eight grain traders speculate on the surging local currency in 2020, Bloomberg News reported Jan. 29, citing people familiar with the matter.

The other three banks being investigated by Taiwan's central bank are Standard Chartered PLC, ING Groep NV and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. U.S.-based Cargill Inc. and the Netherlands' Louis Dreyfus Co. BV are also involved in the currency speculation case, the sources said.

Taiwan's central bank said the banks helped eight food traders in Asia in building a combined US$11 billion in their Taiwan dollar deliverable forwards positions as July 31, 2020. The central bank did not identify the traders, the outlet reported, adding that the traders ceased the trades by the end of July 2020.

Taiwan's central bank is set to announce punishments for four of the banks soon after settling with two other lenders.

The central bank declined to comment beyond its statement. Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Citigroup, ANZ and Cargill declined to comment. A StanChart spokeswoman said the bank was not able to comment as the matter involves regulatory process. ING did not comment, while Louis Dreyfus said it has not been contacted by Taiwanese authorities and declined to comment further.