Five European Banks Fined For Illegal Foreign Exchange Trading Cartel

EDITOR'S NOTE: CNBC reports that “The European Commission has fined five banks for participating in an illegal foreign exchange trading cartel.” The Commission fined five banks — UBS, Barclays, RBS, HSBC, and Credit Suisse — a total of $390 million because “foreign exchange traders in these five banks discussed sensitive information and trading plans.” They also “occasionally coordinated their trading plans via a professional online chatroom called Sterling Lads.” Four of the banks got their fines lessened (excluding Credit Suisse) by 10% for cooperating with the investigation and admitting wrongdoing. While this sounds like the plot of the sequel to The Big Short, this actually happened in real life.

The European Commission has fined five banks for participating in an illegal foreign exchange trading cartel.

UBS, Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse were fined a combined total of 344 million euros ($390 million), the commission said in a statement Thursday.

The investigation, focused on the trading of G-10 currencies, revealed that foreign exchange traders in these five banks discussed sensitive information and trading plans. They occasionally coordinated their trading plans via a professional online chatroom called Sterling Lads, the commission said.

Four of the banks’ fines — UBS, Barclays, RBS and HSBC — were discounted by 10% as they acknowledged their participation in the cartel.

Credit Suisse did not benefit from this reduction as it did not cooperate with authorities, the commission said. Its fine was reduced by 4% to reflect that the bank was not liable for all aspects of the case, however.

UBS ultimately does not have to pay any fine as the bank received “full immunity” for revealing the existence of the cartel.

“Our cartel decisions to fine UBS, Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse send a clear message that the Commission remains committed to ensure a sound and competitive financial sector that is essential for investment and growth,” Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s competition chief, said in a statement.

UBS and Barclays were not immediately available when contacted by CNBC Thursday. Credit Suisse and HSBC declined to comment.

A spokesperson for NatWest, the parent company of RBS, told CNBC via email: “We are pleased to have reached this settlement regarding serious misconduct that took place in a single chatroom, and that involved a former employee of the bank, around a decade ago.”

Originally posted on CNBC.