Up to yesterday suspended currency trader Mr John Rusnak has not talked to the teams of investigators probing the losses of $691.2 million at Allfirst Bank in Baltimore, his lawyer, Mr David Irwin told The Irish Times last night.
Mr Irwin would not say if Mr Rusnak might speak to the head of the AIB-commissioned investigation, Mr Eugene Ludwig, or one of his team, before the report of the investigation is given to AIB on Saturday.
Mr Rusnak, who is accused by AIB of making counterfeit trades to cover up his losses over five years, has been co-operating with the FBI and has handed over his laptop computer on which he did business from his home in suburban Baltimore.
Some of the e-mails the FBI have been working to recover from the lap-top could provide evidence of how Mr Rusnak circumvented controls at Allfirst, as well as other information about how, according to sources, Allfirst officials may have sought to keep the extent of his massive trading from the knowledge of AIB in Dublin.
AIB capital markets division did not supervise Mr Rusnak's treasury operation in Baltimore other than to set daily trading limits which are now believed to have been grossly exceeded.
Mr Rusnak is said to be resigned to the fact that he faces a jail sentence on charges under Section 1005 of the US criminal code. This makes it unlawful to file false statements or reports to defraud a financial institution or deceive a bank officer or bank examiner.
So far the US Attorney's office in Baltimore have not filed any charges against Mr Rusnak. The statute carries penalties of a $1 million fine and up to 30 years in prison but federal sentencing guidelines allow for lesser sentences for those who acknowledge their role and co-operate with prosecutors.
In the wake of the debacle at Allfirst where Mr Rusnak accumulated losses of $691.2 million in five years, a Reserve Bank panel has re-issued copies of its "Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Activity" to CEOs of all companies with currency trading desks. In the past the guidelines have been sent only to the heads of foreign exchange departments.
Allfirst lacked the most basic controls, according to the American Banker magazine, quoting several currency trading and banking experts. It said Allfirst did not have an automated system that limited the size of a trade and was common to foreign exchange desks.
Ms Jamie Thorsen, executive managing director of Bank of Montreal and a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee, told the American Banker that if Allfirst's top executives had seen the guidlines they might have spotted the bogus trades. She said the booklet would be sent to thousands of CEOs at banks worldwide.
