5 banks agree to pay $3 billion to settle currency-rigging charges

Early Wednesday, five major banks agreed to pay U.S. and British regulators more than $3 billion to settle charges of manipulating the foreign-exchange market. The five banks — HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Citigroup — will pay the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission $1.4 billion and the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority about $1.75 billion. At the last minute, for unknown reasons, Barclays pulled out of the agreement, which The Wall Street Journal says is expected to be the first in a bundle of settlements between banks and regulators.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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