Big banks have been on the hook for foreign exchange fixing manipulation charges again, as lawsuits from private investors have ballooned in the aftermath of the regulatory settlements announced late last year.
After J.P. Morgan Chase and Swiss bank UBS have already settled with private suitors for slightly over $100 mln, Citigroup Inc. and Barclays PLC are expected to pay much more in relation to the same matter.
Both companies could be facing up to $800 million combined to private investors who charged the companies with forex manipulation.
According to sources cited by the WSJ, the settlement could come as early as this week as the financial institutions face charges by various institutions which were relying on the accuracy of the foreign exchange benchmarks.
Pension funds, investment companies, hedge funds and many other financial institutions have been using the FX fixings for calculations and for trading purposes.
In addition, the banks involved in forex manipulation are likely to face more charges by the U.S. Department of Justice, which could total $1 billion per institution, the WSJ report reveals.
Bank of America Corp., BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC Holdings PLC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC have not entered into any settlement agreements yet.
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