Did Truss-supporting bankers make fortunes ‘shorting’ the pound? Insider dealing?
Easy money: it’s not quite a backhander for bankers who supported Liz Truss to have made fortunes “shorting” the pound in anticipation of its fall during and after Kwasi Kwarteng’s financial statement.
It is being reported that
Liz Truss-supporting investors made “small fortunes” as the value of the pound plummeted following the radical Conservative budget announced on Friday.
This is deeply concerning because it suggests corruption – that these businesspeople who helped Truss become prime minister may have been given knowledge of what Kwasi Kwarteng was going to say and advised to bet that the value of the pound would drop (also known as “shorting”).
An anonymous source quoted in the Sunday Times told the paper they had attended a dinner with hedge-fund managers who were said to have won big betting against the pound last week.
They were quoted as saying: “They were all supporters of Truss and every one of them was shorting the pound.”
The paper added: “Several made small fortunes on Friday betting against the currency.”
Seems straightforward enough, doesn’t it? Well…
Responding to speculation the traders were given insider knowledge of the budget before it was announced – which would be illegal if it were used for their financial gain – Tim Shipman, who co-authored the piece, said: “It’s not fraud, it’s just a bunch of city people having a view and betting on it. It wasn’t a Tory dinner where the mysteries of the budget were secretly conveyed over the canapes.”
Do you believe it?
A lot of people made a lot of money and they were all Tory-supporting backers of Liz Truss, but it was entirely innocent?
Some people have doubts:
Truss/Kwarteng lifted the cap on bankers' bonus.
Few days earlier they met hedge-fund managers "and every one of them was shorting the pound".
It crashed after the budget. They made millions without producing anything, will collect big bonus & tax cuts.https://t.co/rykE0iD8nL
— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) September 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/Normanjam671/status/1573945446233522176
Say what you like about Universal Credit claimants, but last time I checked, none of them made millions of pounds shorting sterling ahead of the mini-budget
— David__Osland (@David__Osland) September 24, 2022
What do you think happened?
Source: Liz Truss City backers ‘made small fortunes betting against plunging pound’, report claims
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Corruption don’t be stupid they all at it and traitors gate needs reopened to these greedie ones