Lloyds reinstates suspended FX trader

By Patrick Graham and Jamie McGeever LONDON (Reuters) - British-based bank Lloyds has reinstated a foreign exchange trader suspended earlier this year after an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct, the company said on Thursday. The bank declined to name the employee. Its suspension at the start of this year of Martin Chantree, a currency trader at the bank, was the first time Lloyds had been linked with the global row over alleged manipulation being investigated by authorities worldwide. The row has seen around 40 traders at some of the world's biggest banks suspended or fired. The Lloyds trader is the first to be reinstated since the allegations first surfaced roughly a year ago. Industry sources have speculated that at least some of the suspensions may relate to more mundane breaches of banks' codes of conduct and ongoing job cuts in banks' dealing rooms. Sources with knowledge of the global investigations say no clear evidence has emerged as yet of wrongdoing. Bloomberg News reported in March that Chantree, a senior foreign exchange dealer at Lloyds, had shared information with a forex trader at British oil company BP about an impending order from a client to sell 300 million pounds for dollars. BP at the time said none of its currency traders had engaged in inappropriate trading activity. "We can confirm that, following a thorough investigation, we reinstated an employee who was suspended after allegations of misconduct were put to the Group," Lloyds said in a statement. "The individual was reinstated with no disciplinary action being taken and has returned to work." Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said separately on Thursday it was examining information related to a global investigation into the possible manipulation of currency markets, although it has yet to open a criminal investigation.