The UK financial regulator has commenced criminal charge proceedings against Philip Harold Boakes, a 54-year old broker from Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire after he swindled investors of their monies through his company Currencytrader Ltd.
Boakes, who is accused of 13 offences such as fraud, theft, forgery and running an unauthorized forex trading business, may face a stiff penalty as the Financial Conduct Authority looks to reinforce its reputation as one of the world’s strictest financial regulators.
The FCA disclosed that all the offences are related to the unregistered investment vehicle that Boakes ran from Oct. 1, 2004 to June 4, 2013, though his company’s website currency-trader.co.uk is still operational and looking for new clients.
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The simple one-paged website says that anybody who registers for the weekly email newsletter will master the “Tricks of the Institutional Dealers and Tradersâ€. Boakes first appeared in the City of London Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday this week before the case was transferred to the Southwark Crown Court where the first hearing will be conducted on Aug. 5, 2014. The British law gives the Crown Court greater powers to review criminal cases than Magistrates’ Court hence Boakes is likely to face a criminal sentence.
Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority is also accelerating negotiations with a group of banks such as Barclays Bank Plc, UBS AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc. to reach a settlement on the forex benchmark rigging investigation, reported Bloomberg News. Other banks thought to be included in the negotiations include Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc. To register for a free 2-week subscription to ForexMinute Premium Plan, visit www.forexminute.com/newsletter.
To contact the reporter of this story; Yashu Gola at yashu@forexminute.com
