The expert
Manuel Mifsud
Principal · FX Expert Services
Member of the Expert Witness Institute
Head of EMEA FX derivatives; later hedge-fund FX books. 2LOD market surveillance SME, then 1LOD market-abuse analyst — independent review of FX alerts from the trade and order data.
Who instructs
This is a specialist field. It requires a dealer’s knowledge of how a price is made, how a barrier is observed, and how a book is closed — and a 1LOD and 2LOD habit of reading the FX orders, not the alert narrative. Manuel Mifsud headed EMEA FX derivatives and acts as an expert in FX markets, products, dealing practice and market-abuse review. He is a member of the Expert Witness Institute.
The duty, if instructed, is to the court or tribunal, not to the instructing party. No success fee is accepted. Current and former employers are disclosed at conflicts.
Career
1992–1998
Head of EMEA FX derivatives
North American investment bank · EMEA
Headed the EMEA FX derivatives division. At 27, the youngest managing director at that bank. Helped create complex FX barrier option structures that remain widely used, working from volatility, pay-offs and market dynamics rather than from a term-sheet template.
1998–2005
Proprietary trading
Sell-side · London
Built and ran trading teams. Execution across electronic platforms, DMA and internal crossing, according to the strategy rather than a single channel.
2005–2007
Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager
Tribeca Global Investments (Citibank)
Brought in to start and run the London capital-markets arm of Citibank’s multi-strategy internal hedge fund. Set up risk, prime brokerage and hiring around a $75 million book.
2007–2010
Senior Partner, Head of Trading
NyLon Capital Management LLP
Day-to-day running of a fixed-income relative-value hedge fund of over $1 billion AUM. Investment work across fundamental, technical and quantitative analysis, cross-currency correlation and FX volatility relative value. As CIO, 2008 and 2009 were the fund’s strongest risk-adjusted years.
2010–2011
Senior Portfolio Manager
Prologue Capital LLP
Set up an FX business from scratch alongside an existing interest-rate franchise. Managed a $100 million portfolio of FX derivative strategies.
2011–2024
Private investor
Own account · FX and macro hedge-fund consultancy
Full-time investing, after two decades on the desk and in funds, and consultancy to FX and macro hedge funds.
2024–2025
Senior Market Surveillance SME (2LOD)
UBS
Subject-matter expert on global trade and communications surveillance in rates and credit. Helped create and mentor an FCA lookback remediation. QA of alert closures, STORs and market observations to the FCA, MAR training for new joiners, and manual surveillance controls for fixed income and FX.
2025–present
Senior Market Abuse Analyst (1LOD)
NatWest Markets
Independent review of a sample of alerts closed by 2LOD, from the underlying trade and order data rather than from the 2LOD write-up. Assesses whether activity is consistent with legitimate market behaviour or may indicate abuse, and presents that conclusion to senior stakeholders.
Credentials
- Education
- BSc (Hons) Banking and International Finance, City University Business School (1992)
- Qualifications
- Investment Management Certificate · SFA Registered Representative · SFA Futures and Options Representative
- Membership
- Member of the Expert Witness Institute
- Markets
- FX derivatives — barriers, vanillas, exotics, spot and forwards. Headed EMEA FX derivatives.
- Surveillance
- 1LOD and 2LOD market abuse in FX: independent alert review, STORs, MAR typologies
Training and controls
2024–25
MAR training for new joiners and existing staff
Authored and delivered at UBS
2024–25
Template for Fixed Income STOR submissions
UBS 2LOD surveillance, used for subsequent FCA submissions
2024–25
Manual surveillance controls for fixed income and FX
Documented procedures presented to steering committees