Goldman Expected to Settle Forex Suit for Almost $130 Million

By Justin Baer 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is expected to pay $129.5 million to settle its slice of a private lawsuit that accuses banks of manipulating foreign-currency rates, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A final accord may be reached in the next several weeks, the person said.

The deal with investors including the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System would add Goldman to the list of settlements private investors have extracted from many of the world's largest banks including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., UBS AG and Bank of America Corp.

The lawsuit has been one of many headaches caused by banks' foreign-exchange trading businesses. Regulators and law-enforcement officials in both the U.S. and U.K. had seized on similar accusations, extracting settlements of their own from some of the same banks.

Bank of America settled the private investors' claims last month for $180 million. Citigroup Inc. and Barclays PLC are expected to strike deals soon, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The investors accused the banks' traders of conspiring in instant messages and chat rooms with names such as "the Cartel," and "the Dream Team" to manipulate foreign-exchange rates, and sued the financial firms in 2013.

Goldman was also one of several banks issued subpoenas by the New York's Superintendent of Financial Services stemming from questions about their use of computer programs and allegations of forex-rate manipulation.

Separately, the U.S. Justice Department is expected to draw guilty pleas on criminal antitrust charges from Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, related to the alleged rigging of forex rates, the Journal reported earlier this month. UBS also is expected to reach a settlement but will receive immunity from prosecution for its cooperation with investigators, the Journal reported.

Write to Justin Baer at [e-mail]

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