UBS, along with a further seven banking giants is in talks with the European Union to settle the investigation into the alleged participation in a forex cartel, according to a media report. The companies face paying penalties reaching billions of euros.
UBS and the other banks are in talks with the Commission of the EU because of their participation in an illegal forex cartel, according to the «Financial Times» (behind paywall). The talks are slated for conclusion in 2018.
Apart from UBS, the cartel included Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Barclays, HSBC and two other banks. They face fines of several billion euros, according to the U.K.-based newspaper. By way of comparison, the EU issued fines of almost 2 billion euros in connection with the manipulation of rates.
U.S. Scandal Concluded Two Years Ago
The U.S. concluded its forex trading scandal two-and-a-half years ago. Zurich-based UBS cooperated fully and received a fine of $342 million, but also was forced to plead guilty in retrospect for its part in the Libor scandal.
The other participating banks had received fines reaching a total of $5.6 billion.
