Global Banks to Pay $5.6 Billion in Penalties in FX, Libor Probe

Citi, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, RBS to Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Manipulate FX Prices
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Citi, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, RBS to Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Manipulate FX Prices

Five global banks will pay more than $5 billion in combined penalties to resolve foreign exchange and Libor probes, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says. Photo: Getty

By

Aruna Viswanatha

Updated May 20, 2015 11:00 a.m. ET

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WASHINGTON—Five global banks have agreed to pay more than $5 billion in combined penalties and will plead guilty to criminal charges to resolve a long running U.S. investigation into whether traders at the banks colluded to move foreign currency rates in directions to benefit their own positions.
Four of the banks, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, and Citigroup Inc., will plead guilty to conspiring to manipulate the price of U.S. dollars and euros, authorities said.
The fifth bank, UBS AG , received immunity in the antitrust case, but will plead guilty to manipulating the Libor benchmark after prosecutors said the bank violated an earlier accord meant to resolve those allegations of misconduct. UBS will also pay an additional Libor-related fine.