2 Minutes Read (Reuters) – LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) – According to their lawyers, a US federal regulator has abandoned an exchange-rate rigging lawsuit against two former top London currency traders, putting an end to an eight-year investigation by US authorities. According to their lawyers and a court notice, the US Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has dropped its action in federal court against Richard Usher, a former JPMorgan head of EMEA foreign exchange spot trading, and Rohan Ramchandani, a former Citigroup European forex trading head. A request for comment from the OCC was not immediately returned. The men were acquitted by a jury in a US District Court in 2018 on allegations of conspiring to rig the multi-trillion dollar FX market. They have faced no repercussions from British authorities. They had traveled to the United States voluntarily to face the charges. Despite this, the OCC wanted to ban them from the business for life and punish them $1.5 million. Their lawyers indicated they would face another trial later this year. “This is a complete and comprehensive exoneration for Mr Usher,” Paul Hastings’ Jonathan Pickworth said, adding that the OCC had pursued a case that was without basis. “It puts an end to an eight-year ordeal in which he has had to face two sets of stressful and expensive processes in the United States… Mr Usher may now justifiably feel completely vindicated and attempt to restore normal life,” he said. Despite the fact that her client had already been acquitted of essentially the same allegations, Heather Nyong’o, a WilmerHale lawyer for Ramchandani, said the OCC had persisted with “constantly morphing theories of prosecution.” “Finally, on the eve of trial, they have dismissed their notice and my client can hopefully feel some vindication after tirelessly fighting these false allegations…,” she said. (Kirstin Ridley contributed reporting, and Cynthia Osterman edited the piece.)/n
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