US Drops Ramchandani, Usher, FX Manipulation Case

The US Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) has ended its pursuit of FX traders Rohan Ramchandani and Richard Usher for alleged manipulation of FX markets, dropping its case against them in a US Federal court.

Ramchandani and Usher were tried in a New York court in 2018 over claims they colluded to manipulate FX rates with other members of Bloomberg chat rooms in what became known as The Cartel, even though no chat room was actually named that. They were acquitted of the charges, however the OCC expressed its determination to pursue them and was seeking life bans and substantial fines for both men.

Ramchandani won an unfair dismissal case against his former employer Citi, for whom he worked during the time of the alleged conduct, however a UK Employment Tribunal dismissed his attempt to be reinstated, finding that while the bank failed to follow fair practice, he was dismissed for his conduct. He is currently suing Citi in a civil case in New York.

Usher also reportedly sued the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice over his treatment during the investigation, however sources say this was more about gaining access to US government documents relating to the OCC case and that now that is dropped the future of those cases is unclear.