HSBC, Barclays and NatWest fined by EU for foreign exchange cartel
HSBC was hit with the highest penalty, at 174.3 million euros (£148.3 million), for its role in rigging the foreign exchange spot trading market.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British banking giants HSBC NatWest and Barclays are among four lenders that have been fined a combined 344 million euros (£293 million) by the European Union for rigging the foreign exchange spot trading market.
The European Commission hit HSBC with the highest penalty – at 174.3 million euros (£148.3 million) – while Barclays was fined 54.3 million euros (£46.2 million) and NatWest 32.5 million euros (£27.7 million).
Crisis-hit Credit Suisse was also fined, with the second largest penalty of the four, at 83.3 million euros (£70.9 million).
The collusive behaviour of the five banks undermined the integrity of the financial sector at the expense of the European economy and consumers
A fifth bank – fellow Swiss lender UBS – was spared a 94 million euro (£80 million) fine because it blew the whistle on the cartel, according to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.
The commission said HSBC, Barclays and NatWest – which was called Royal Bank of Scotland at the time of the offences and until a rebrand last year – had their fines cut for cooperating with the investigation.
The commission said in a statement that several foreign exchange spot traders “exchanged sensitive information and trading plans, and occasionally coordinated their trading strategies through an online professional chatroom called Sterling Lads”.
This enabled the traders to make informed market decisions on whether and when to sell or buy the currencies they had in their portfolios, rather than acting independently of each other and taking a risk in making these decisions, according to the commission.
Margrethe Vestager the European Commission vice president, said: “The collusive behaviour of the five banks undermined the integrity of the financial sector at the expense of the European economy and consumers.”
The investigation focused on the trading of the G10 currencies – the most liquid and traded currencies worldwide.
The commission said the fines brought to a close its sixth cartel investigation in the financial sector since 2013.