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Reuters
LONDON
Qatar has asked US regulators to investigate the US subsidiary of the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), accusing it of"bogus" foreign exchange deals designed to harm its economy as part of the blockade imposed on Doha by its neighbours.
Qatar Central Bank's law firm has written a letter to the US Treasury asking it to investigate NBAD Americas, the US subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), which is majority state-owned.
In a second letter, the lawyers ” Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison ” asked the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to investigate possible manipulation of Qatari riyal.
"We believe NBAD has participated in an extraordinary and unlawful scheme to wage financial warfare against Qatar, including through the manipulation of Qatari currency and securities markets," said the letter to the US Treasury dated February 26.
"These actions should be halted immediately, and we ask that you investigate whether NBAD has directly or indirectly supported the manipulation of Qatar's markets, including through NBAD America's dollar-clearing or correspondent banking services in the US," the letter said.
FAB did not respond to questions about details of the allegations.
A Qatari government spokesman confirmed the letters had been sent to US regulators.
Qatar Central Bank said in December it had launched an investigation into possible manipulation of its markets by the countries that had imposed the economic blockade.
It previously accused unnamed banks of trying to manipulate the riyal by trading it between themselves offshore at artificially weak levels - to create an illusion Qatar's economy was crumbling.
In the letter to the US Treasury, Qatar's lawyers said they suspected NBAD was driving the riyal lower during illiquid periods, such as Eid al Adha holidays last year,"reinforcing the manufactured narrative that Qatar's currency was increasingly volatile and its economy was too unstable for investment".
"NBAD's quotes ” and those of other banks involved in the manipulation ” were likely all bogus," the letter said without naming the banks and referring to foreign exchange quotes posted by NBAD.
"There is evidence that at the same time NBAD was providing quotes with great frequency and at rates lower than the official rate of 3.64, its traders were unwilling to actually transact at those prices," the letter said.
