The European Commission imposes a fine of €261M (~$295M) on four banks that agreed to settle the EC's cartel investigation into the foreign exchange spot trading market.
The banks that agreed to settle are UBS Group (NYSE:UBS), Barclays (NYSE:BCS), RBS (NYSE:NWG), and HSBC (NYSE:HSBC). Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), which didn't settle, was fined €83M under the commission's ordinary procedure.
The investigation focused on the trading of G10 currencies, the most liquid and traded currencies in the world. The probe found that some traders in charge of the forex spot trading of the currencies, acting on behalf of the fined banks, shared sensitive information and trading plans, and occasionally coordinated their trading strategies through an online professional chatroom called "Sterling Lads."
UBS (UBS) received full immunity for its role in alerting authorities to the existence of the cartels, allowing it to avoid an aggregate fine of €94M. Barclays (BCS), RBS (NWG), and HSBC (HSBC) had their fines reduced for cooperating with the investigation.
Credit Suisse (CS) didn't cooperate with the probe, so it didn't get any reduction related to that framework. It did get a 4% reduction to reflect the fact that it isn't held liable for all aspects of the case.
Under the settlements, Barclays (BCS) was fined €54M, RBS (NWG) €32M, and HSBC (HSBC) €174M.
In October, Credit Suisse (CS) agreed to pay almost $475M to U.S. and U.K. authorities related to a Mozambique fundraising probe.