US: Citigroup may join other banks in pleading guilty in forex case

US banking giant Citigroup said it could plead guilty to an antitrust violation as part of a settlement of charges it helped rig the massive foreign exchange market.

Citigroup said it is in “active” discussions to settle the forex probe and that “a resolution with the Department of Justice could include a guilty plea on an antitrust charge,” in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A settlement in the forex rigging case between five banks, including Citigroup, and US and British regulators could be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The size of the fine was expected to range by institution, with some banks paying hundreds of millions of dollars and the most egregious violators paying more than $1 billion.

The sprawling forex probe has ensnared most large banks and centered on accusations traders conspired through instant messages and online chats to manipulate the market in ways that cheated clients and bolstered their own profits.

Besides New York-based Citigroup, the other banks settling would be US bank JPMorgan Chase, British banks Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, and Swiss bank UBS.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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