A former HSBCHoldings Plc trader has "strongly" denied U.S. of wire fraud inconnection with foreign-exchange manipulation, Reuters reported July 21.

Gerallt Owen, a lawyer for Stuart Scott, declined toelaborate further in an emailed statement, the newswire added.

U.S. authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Scott,who was fired in 2014as HSBC's head of forex cash trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.Scott, who lives in the U.K., is accused alongside HSBC's global head of forexcash trading, Mark Johnson, who was arrested July 19 in New York.

Johnson has been released from jail on $1 million bail,Bloomberg News noted July 20.

Meanwhile, HSBC is reviewing an internal probe of the tradeat the center of the allegations, "a source familiar with the matter"told Reuters. The 2013 internal investigation found no wrongdoing in connection with the$3.5 billion trade, which was reportedly executed on behalf of Cairn Energy.