Schirick Assesses How Mark Johnson Conviction Will Impact Forex Trading

The criminal trial and subsequent conviction of former HSBC foreign currency exchange (forex) executive Mark Johnson raises a host of questions for banks around the world who engage in prehedging and front-running in connection with forex deals.

Speaking to Law360, Partner Scott Schirick discussed how Johnson's conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges could also leave open questions for other institutional entities, such as central banks, which dominate the largely unregulated forex market. "This is one that will reverberate on desks in Hong Kong, in Tokyo, all across the continent, as well as in New York and other places in the U.S.," Schirick said.

Prior to the news of Johnson's conviction, Schirick penned an expert analysis for Law360 in which he wrote that Johnson's prosecution would test whether the government could turn sharp dealing and deception in the unregulated institutional spot forex market into criminal fraud.