5 banks to pay $5.4 billion in fines after pleading guilty to manipulating foreign currencies

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, and the Royal Bank of Scotland will plead guilty to multiple crimes, including violating antitrust laws.

A group of traders who referred to themselves as "the cartel" rigged the market to manipulate interest rates and foreign currencies. The traders executed the scheme for five years, through 2012.

UBS, the fifth bank in question, said Wednesday that it will plead guilty to manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), and pay $545 million in fines to U.S. authorities. In total, the five banks will pay about $5.4 billion in fines.

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The banks' parent companies are expected to enter the guilty pleas in a Connecticut federal court on Wednesday.