Fed Joins BOE in Examining Traders’ Access to Audio Feeds: FT
Fed Joins BOE in Examining Traders’ Access to Audio Feeds: FT
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve will join the Bank of England in reviewing broadcast feeds for possible weaknesses after it was found that some traders and hedge funds were able to gain early access to audio of BOE briefings, the Financial Times reported.
On Thursday, the Bank of England asked regulators to investigate how an audio broadcast of some of its press conferences was misused to potentially give traders an unfair advantage, Bloomberg reported, following an earlier story from the Times of London.
Faster audio could give some traders an edge on words spoken by BOE Governor Mark Carney, which can move the price of the pound or U.K. gilts. Even a few seconds can be enough to get a trade in ahead of a market move.
The Times of London reported Friday that the BOE has now removed all market news providers specializing in audio from its list of companies with press credentials.
The Fed said it was reviewing how its official comments are broadcast, the FT reported. Speeches from within the Fed are disseminated on two feeds with no audio back-up, which reduces unauthorized access.
The European Central Bank also took action this year to ensure that audio from its press conferences couldn’t be used to give traders an unfair advantage, by providing its own fast feed for free via its website.
To contact the reporters on this story: Michelle Jamrisko in Singapore at mjamrisko@bloomberg.net;Melissa Cheok in Singapore at mcheok2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Michael S. Arnold, Michael Heath
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