NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A senior HSBC Holdings Plc executive pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges thathe participated in a fraudulent scheme to front-run a $3.5billion currency transaction by one of the bank's clients.
The plea on wire fraud and conspiracy charges by MarkJohnson, a British citizen who at the time of his arrest lastmonth was HSBC's global head of foreign exchange cash trading,was entered by his lawyer in the federal court in Brooklyn.
Johnson and Stuart Scott, HSBC's former head of cash tradingfor Europe, the Middle East and Africa, are believed to be thefirst people to face U.S. criminal charges arising from a probeof foreign-exchange rigging at banks.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)