* FCA says forex manipulation allegations a surprise
* Other unnamed benchmarks also being probed by FCA
By Huw Jones
LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog saidit was unlikely to reach any conclusions this year in its probeinto potential manipulation of foreign exchange markets.
Benchmark foreign exchange rates are used to set the valueof trillions of dollars of investments and regulators arelooking at whether traders at some of the world's biggest bankscolluded to manipulate the rates.
"I would be surprised if we got to conclusions within thisyear. I hope that we will next year," Financial ConductAuthority Chief Executive Martin Wheatley told UK lawmakers onTuesday.
"We are still in the investigation phase ... The allegationsare every bit as bad as they have been with Libor," Wheatleyadded.
Banks including Barclays and UBS havebeen fined $6 billion for rigging Libor benchmark interest ratesand some of the same banks are cooperating with regulators inthe forex probe.
Wheatley said the foreign exchange market was different toLibor in that the forex rates were based on actual tradesconducted in very liquid markets, while Libor is compiled bybanks submitting their own quotes.
He said "the "surprise for all of us" was that theallegations about fixing forex trades and the suggestion ofcollusion among traders have become so strong.
He accepted a point made by one lawmaker that given what'semerging about the foreign exchange markets, people won't trusthow benchmarks are fixed.
Several lawmakers pressed Wheatley for reassurance that theFinancial Conduct Authority (FCA) was the lead regulator in theprobe into foreign exchange markets being conducted bysupervisors in the United States and Switzerland as well.
Lawmakers have accused UK regulators of playing secondfiddle to their U.S. counterparts in the Libor probes.
Wheatley said there was no formal agreement on who was thelead regulator in a global forex probe but the FCA would be atthe forefront.
"The activities happened in London and we have the leadposition in terms of access to information and traders,"Wheatley said.
Ten banks have said they are cooperating with the forexprobe, he said.
Wheatley also confirmed that the FCA was probing other typesof benchmarks used in London, but declined to name them.