REUTERS/ Brendan McDermid
It's more fun if you imagine this Wall Street Journal report happening like that, but basically a bunch of federal agents showed up to the New York home of
The trader's response, according to the report, was something along the lines of: "Oh, you mean those instant messages? That was a joke." From the Journal:
People close to Deutsche Bank say the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding based at least partly on the trader having made a joke, in writing, about his ability to manipulate markets. Mr. Wallden remains a Deutsche Bank employee and hasn't been suspended, these people say.
Tell the one about you and the
Bloomberg's Matt Levine offers
In fact, regulators in the U.S and abroad are using instant messages in their crusade to round up those responsible for an alleged currency manipulation scandal. And why not? Chat logs have been central to deeming culpability in the Libor investigation.
The development spurred JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon - who recognizes the off-the-cuff, incriminating nature of traderspeak instant messages - to tell employees to not "bullshit" over IM.