BNP Paribas to Pay $350 Million to Settle New York Forex Allegations
24 May 2017 - 7:28PM
Dow Jones News
By Nicole Hong
BNP Paribas SA agreed on Wednesday to pay a $350 million penalty
to resolve allegations by New York's banking regulator that
foreign-exchange traders at the French bank engaged in collusion to
manipulate currency rates.
The New York Department of Financial Services said deficient
oversight at BNP Paribas "allowed nearly unfettered misconduct"
among traders and salespeople in the bank's foreign-exchange
business, in violation of New York banking laws.
The investigation focused on misconduct that began a decade ago,
involving at least a dozen BNP Paribas employees around the
world.
The Department of Financial Services found that from 2007 until
2013, currency traders at BNP Paribas in New York and other big
trading hubs participated in chat rooms where they colluded to
widen spreads, manipulate the price at which daily benchmark rates
were set and hide markups from customers -- with the ultimate goal
of artificially increasing profits.
Under the terms of the consent order, the bank admitted to the
regulator's allegations.
"BNP Paribas deeply regrets the past misconduct which led to
this settlement," the bank's spokespeople said in a statement,
adding that the bank has since implemented new measures to
strengthen its compliance.
Write to Nicole Hong at nicole.hong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 24, 2017 14:13 ET (18:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.