Ex-HSBC Currency Trader Deserves Decade in Prison, U.S. Says

  • Government says Johnson perjured himself during his trial
  • Prosecutors won conviction over front-running customer order

Mark Johnson arrives at federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 18, 2017. 

Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg
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U.S. prosecutors say former HSBC Holdings Plc currency trader Mark Johnson deserves a decade or more in prison based on his fraud conviction for front-running a $3.5 billion client order and lying on the witness stand at his trial.

Johnson, the bank’s former global head of foreign exchange trading, was found guilty in October by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, of charges tied to HSBC’s execution of an order from Cairn Energy Plc in 2011. Prosecutors said Johnson deserves a term of nine to 11 1/2 years as he caused $7.3 million in losses, noting that "HSBC settled Cairn’s claim relating to this incident for approximately $8 million."