Barclays lost ‘tens of millions’ of dollars on Swiss franc moves: source

LONDON: British bank Barclays lost tens of millions of dollars from the volatile moves in the Swiss franc on Thursday, an industry source said on Friday.

Several banking sources said most major banks were likely to have lost money from the unprecedented surge in the value of the franc after the Swiss central bank abandoned a cap on the currency.

Banks lost money because the franc moved so quickly firms could not immediately fill client orders, the sources said. The first industry source said Barclays would honour all the trades made in spot Swiss franc trading.

Retail foreign exchange brokers were nursing hefty losses from the Swiss currency move and broker Alpari UK filed for insolvency.