http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BANKS_FINES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-12-05-29-29
LONDON (AP) -- U.S., British and Swiss regulators have fined five global banks $3.4 billion for attempting to manipulate foreign exchange markets - the latest penalties for an industry previously criticized for rigging interest rates and for their role in triggering the global financial crisis.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority said Wednesday that Citibank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC Bank and UBS had agreed to settlements totaling almost $3.4 billion. The FCA said it is continuing to investigate Barclays Bank.
"Today's record fines mark the gravity of the failings we found, and firms need to take responsibility for putting it right," said Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the FCA. "They must make sure their traders do not game the system to boost profits."
Some $5.3 trillion changes hands every day on the global foreign exchange market, with 40 percent of trades occurring in London. Currencies including dollars, pounds, euros and yen trade in the loosely regulated market dominated by a group of elite banks. But those trades have an even wider impact because companies around the world use market prices to value assets and manage currency risks.
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