UK: Citigroup to pay $425 million for interest rate manipulation

Citigroup has agreed to pay $425 million to resolve civil charges that it tried to manipulate interest rate benchmarks.

In announcing the settlement on Wednesday, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission said Citigroup affiliates also made false reports in connection with ISDAFIX benchmark rates and dollar Libor rates during the financial crisis to protect its reputation.

The CFTC accused Citigroup of trying to manipulate the benchmarks by certain traders putting in false data to benefit their own trading positions. The various actions occurred between 2007 and 2012.

With the Citigroup settlement, the CFTC said it has imposedmore than $5 billion in penalties in 17 actions against banksand brokers for manipulating benchmarks for interest rates andforeign exchange. The settlement is the latest in a series of ongoing international probes of global banks.

Citi’s settlement sum is sizeable compared to other recent CFTC enforcement actions, but the bank has faced at least one larger regulatory settlement. In 2014, Citi agreed to pay the U.S. Justice Department $7 billion to resolve claims it misled investors about the quality of mortgage-backed securities.

The benchmarks included the US dollar ISDAFIX for fixedinterest rate swaps, the Yen Libor and the Euroyen Tibor.

Full Content: Reuters

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