April 20 (Reuters) - After the Swiss National Bank abandonedits price cap on the franc in January, some dealers such as Bankof America Corp, Barclays Plc and Goldman SachsGroup Inc approached customers about changing sometrades, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with thediscussions.
The banks sought to reduce their losses by trying to renegeon transactions by contacting customers after the SNB decision,asking to discuss the rates they'd traded on, Bloomberg said. (http://bloom.bg/1bcNPJM)
Some currency trading firms and major banks lost out whenthe SNB scrapped its three-year-old cap on the franc against theeuro without warning on Jan. 15. Barclays lost"tens of millions" of dollars and retail broker Alpari UK filedfor insolvency.
The banks' attempts to reopen deals present their rivalssuch as electronic trading venues and established exchanges witha new argument - do business through us rather than dealers whocan cancel or alter your trades after they have been executed,Bloomberg said.
Buying and selling currencies commonly takes place between abank and its customer through over-the-counter trading, which islargely unregulated, giving the banks freedom in how theyoperate.
The three banks did not immediately respond to requests forcomment outside regular business hours. (Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru; Editing by EricWalsh)
Barclays (BARC)
