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By Jamie McGeever
LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Two senior London-based currencytraders at Dutch lender Rabobank have left the bankafter an internal investigation into the bank's currency-tradingpractices, a Rabobank official familiar with the matter said onMonday.
Theirs are the latest in a flurry of departures of seniorforex traders from banks in London this month as the year-longglobal inquiry into allegations of collusion and manipulation inthe world's largest market draws closer to a settlement.
The two men are Gary Andrews and Chris Twort, who had bothbeen suspended earlier this month. The Rabobank official said anagreement had been reached under which the two traders had leftthe bank.
No further details of why the men left were available.
Andrews was the bank's chief dealer, and Twort was a seniortrader. Both were listed as "inactive" on the UK financialwatchdog's register of approved individuals as of Oct. 8.Reuters reported their suspensions on Oct. 7.
Neither man could be reached for comment at the bank onMonday, and the Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment.
Andrews' LinkedIn page said he was chief dealer at Rabobankfrom September 2004 to October 2014 and is now "looking for newopportunities in FX", while Twort is still listed as a senior FXdealer at Rabobank.
Neither could be reached immediately via LinkedIn.
This follows a series of high-profile departures from theLondon currency trading desks at JP Morgan and HSBC this month.
The industry has been rocked by the investigation. More than30 currency operatives at several leading banks - including oneat the Bank of England - have been suspended, placed on leave orfired as a dozen authorities including the U.S. Department ofJustice have conducted their investigations.
No bank or individual has yet been formally accused of anywrongdoing.
The investigation originally centred on activity related tothe so-called "London fixing", the one-minute window at 4 pm inLondon every trading day when benchmark exchange rates are set,but has since broadened out, sources say.
Sources have told Reuters that a settlement between the FCAand major banks based largely on banks admitting lax internalcompliance, oversight failures and market conduct breaches byindividual employees could be reached by the end of the year. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever in London and Thomas Escritt inAmsterdam; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Hugh Lawson)