NAB traders found guilty in Australian forex trial

SYDNEY - Two former foreign exchange dealers at National Australia Bank were found guilty on Saturday on charges relating to a trading scandal that rocked Australia's biggest bank and cost it A$252 million ($300.4 million).

David Bullen, 34, and Vince Ficarra, 27, were each convicted of multiple counts of gaining financial advantage and one count of gaining financial advantage by deception in the Victorian County Court. They will be sentenced at a later date.

Four traders were charged by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in relation to unauthorised foreign exchange trading in 2004 after the scandal was uncovered and the bank closed out its losing positions.

The court was told during the trial that Bullen and Ficarra, who had pleaded not guilty, had entered fictitious trades to hide mounting losses. Both said they believed the manipulation had been a common practice, and they were acting under instructions.

In June 2005, the former head of the desk, Luke Duffy, was sentenced to 29 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the scandal. A fourth trader was sentenced to 16 months jail in April this year.

The scandal contributed to a shake-up of the bank's senior management that led to the exit of both its then chairman and chief executive.

- REUTERS