Perry Stimpson: Former Citi forex trader challenges dismissal

A former Citigroup foreign exchange trader fired amid an investigation into rate rigging has claimed the practices that prompted his dismissal were widespread across the bank and the industry.

Perry Stimpson, who is claiming unfair dismissal against the US bank in a four-day tribunal, was dismissed from Citi’s London trading desk in November 2014.

“I’m trying to get to the point of the culture of the bank at that time and what was allowed and what wasn’t allowed and what was condoned. My actions were normal across the industry,” Mr Stimpson told the court, according to a report by Bloomberg.

In a filing to the court, Citi said that Mr Stimpson was dismissed for serious breach of contract, alleging that he appeared to have shared confidential client information with traders at other banks via electronic chatrooms.

Citi was one of half a dozen banks fined by regulators earlier this year over the rigging of forex rates. It was given a $1.3bn (£850m) penalty in May, taking total fines for the bank in relation to forex fiddling to $2.3bn. The penalty came as part of a multi-bank settlement with the US Department of Justice, which claimed that traders at Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Barclays and RBS had used chatrooms to collude on fixing forex rates.

Mr Stimpson is just one of many traders to have been let go by banking institutions after the rigging scandal came to light. His case is the first in a series set to be brought before tribunal courts in London by former Citi traders in the next few months.

Mr Stimpson is expected to allege that some of his colleagues used electronic messaging tools in the same way he did. He will also claim the bank did not treat his case the same as others. “I’m not here to mudsling; I’m here so the truth about foreign exchange at Citi is heard,” he said.