Former Barclays trader fined $1.2 million by U.S. Fed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Board said on Monday it had fined a former Barclays Plc foreign exchange trader $1.2 million for manipulating trades.

The former trader, Christopher Ashton, allegedly used chat rooms to coordinate investments and disclose confidential information in foreign exchange trades, the regulator said.

A lawyer for Ashton could not immediately be reached for comment. Barclays declined to comment.

Monday's action followed the board's May 2015 enforcement actions against Barclays for unsafe and unsound practices related to foreign exchange markets, the Federal Reserve said.

Barclays was required to pay $342 million at that time.

In that case, the bank had settled with the New York State financial regulator and faces civil lawsuits stemming from the alleged abuse.

 

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn)