Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings pushed through hundreds of millions of dollars of trades for hedge fund Glen Point Capital that are now at the center of U.S. criminal charges against its co-founder Neil Phillips, according to people familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors said Thursday that Phillips, 52, worked with a Singapore-based employee of an unidentified firm to arrange some $725 million of currency trades as he sought to manipulate rates. The firm, known only as Bank-3 in the indictment, is Nomura, according to the people, who requested anonymity as the details are private.
The U.S. has charged Phillips with fraud, alleging that he tried to manipulate the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the South African rand in 2017 to make a complex $20 million wager succeed. The hedge fund manager, who co-founded Glen Point in 2015, was arrested in Spain on request from the U.S. earlier this week. A lawyer for Phillips didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment on the charges.