Bank of England chief grilled over forex scandal

 Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Tuesday sought to shield his institution from being dragged further into a global scandal over the alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets, according to AP.Regulators in Europe and the U.S. are investigating a number of banks for possibly manipulating foreign exchange markets. Major firms like Citigroup and Barclays have suspended traders pending the investigation. The scandal touched the Bank of England last week, when it said it suspended one of its own employees.Appearing before an influential committee of lawmakers to explain the situation, Carney said there was no evidence so far that staff at the Bank of England had also colluded in market manipulation or in sharing confidential client information. The suspension, he said, had only been made pending further investigation."The institution has to be beyond reproach," Carney said. "We have to have the highest standards of integrity."The scandal threatens to be more serious than the one surrounding the rigging of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. The investigation into Libor, a key rate underpinning transactions the world over, resulted in billions in fines for the banks implicated.