Banks fined €1bn by EU for currency rigging

Five banks have been fined €1.07bn (£935m) by the European Commission after traders clubbed together to rig the foreign exchange market. Four banks in the “Banana Split” cartel – Barclays, RBS, Citigroup and JP Morgan – were fined €811m in all.

Three banks in the “Essex Express” cartel – Barclays and RBS again, plus MUFG – were fined €258m. A sixth bank, UBS, was excused financial penalties for revealing the cartels’ existence.The European Commission said the market-rigging took place from 2007 to 2013.

The Commission’s investigation, which began in September 2013, revealed that some individual foreign exchange traders, using online chatrooms, exchanged trading plans and occasionally co-ordinated their trading strategies.

Source: BBC
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