HSBC Traders Used Code Word to Trigger Front-Running, U.S. Says
- ‘My watch is off’ was allegedly signal before a large order
- Mark Johnson is on trial charged with fraud, conspiracy
Mark Johnson in New York on Sept. 18.
Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
With just four words, Mark Johnson allegedly passed a secretive signal to fellow HSBC Holdings Plc currency traders to launch a buying spree of pounds: "My watch is off."
The bank’s former global head of foreign exchange alerted the traders around the globe via phone calls and chat messages, prosecutors at Johnson’s fraud trial say. The gambit in December 2011 was designed to take advantage of a $3.5 billion client order to buy sterling, they claim.