Traders who manipulate markets are facing longer sentences, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will warn in an important speech Thursday. The U.K. is also likely to defy broader European Union rules over market manipulation, in the latest in a series of attempts by Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron to demonstrate their independence from the EU. The U.K Treasury, the BoE and regulator the Financial Conduct Authority are expected to come up with a series of proposals targeting the bonds and commodities markets as well as foreign exchange.
London has been at the center of global scandals over artificial manipulation of interest rates and foreign exchange rates. The U.K.’s central bank suspended an employee earlier this year, after allegations that foreign exchange traders had been told at a meeting with Bank officials that sharing information on customer orders was allowed.