According to The Wall Street Journal, top banks are considering blocking employees from computer chat rooms during the trading process after scandals involving interest-rate rigging and market manipulation.
Chat rooms have become integral to the way traders communicate with one another and clients. Trading desks around the world that buy and sell currencies, commodities, equities and fixed-income assets rely, at least in part, on so-called multidealer chat rooms, which link multiple banks and their clients primarily through their Bloomberg terminals.
But a series of regulatory probes into interest-rate rigging and possible manipulation of other markets has turned a spotlight on the chat rooms. The potential for hefty fines and damage to their reputations has some banks considering what would amount to a radical overhaul of the way traders conduct their business.
