United Kingdom
U.K. Bank Investigations Keep Magic Circle, Am Law 100 Firms Busy
Six major international banks were in November hit with record fines, following a 13-month investigation by U.K. and U.S. regulators into an attempted rigging of the foreign exchange (forex) market. The banks were fined a total of £2.6 billion ($4.3 billion) for failing to prevent traders from conspiring to manipulate the $5.3 trillion-per-day forex market. Dealers were accused by authorities of using online chatrooms to swap confidential information about client orders under aliases such as “the three musketeers” and “the players.” The £1.07 billion ($1.77 billion) fine by U.K. finance sector regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the largest ever levied against banks in London
Bank of America Corporation; Citigroup Inc; HSBC Holdings Plc; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc; and Swiss bank UBS AG were all subject to the bumper financial penalty. In statements, the banks said that they do not tolerate improper conduct, and several said they had taken steps to improve their internal controls.
The Bank of England was cleared of any wrongdoing relating to forex manipulation after an investigation by London-based law firm Travers Smith and One Essex Court barrister Lord Grabiner QC— previously appointed by News Corp to investigate phone hacking— found “no evidence to suggest that any bank official was involved in any unlawful or improper behaviour in the FX market.” Shortly after the report was released in November, the Bank of England dismissed its chief forex trader for “serious misconduct” in what it said was an unrelated matter.
Citigroup, which was fined a total of £635 million, relied on Allen & Overy in the forex investigation in the U.K. and on Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in the United States. (A&O’s U.S. offices also scored a role in a class action filed against the banks by U.S. pension funds, representing French bank BNP Paribas.) Slaughter and May acted for JPMorgan Chase, which was fined $1 billion, while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represented UBS both in the U.K. and the U.S. Linklaters advised key banking client Royal Bank of Scotland, which was fined a total of £400 million ($630 million).
Barclays Plc did not agree to the group settlement and continues to be under investigation. Press reports have cited complications with the New York State Department of Financial Services, which regulates Barclays in New York.
Barclays was represented by longstanding advisor Clifford Chance, which has been kept busier than most by the recent glut of bank fines and investigations. The Magic Circle firm is also currently advising Barclays on an investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) into a lack of competition among the U.K.’s four largest retail banks. Earlier this year, Clifford Chance advised both Barclays and RBS on issues related to the rigging of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)—a benchmark rate used to determine the price of short-term interbank loans; it also represented Barclays in a case brought by Guardian Care Homes Group over allegations of LIBOR manipulation and the mis-selling of £70 million of interest-rate swaps, which the bank settled before trial, and in a then-record £60 million ($95 million) settlement with the FCA’s predecessor agency, the Financial Services Authority.
Most recently, Clifford Chance advised Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, which was last week hit by the FCA and the PRA with a £56 million ($88 million) fine after a 2012 software failure left millions of its customers unable to access their accounts.
All of the firms involved in the various matters declined to comment.
Read more: http://www.international.law.com/id=1202677282863/UK-Bank-Investigations-Keep-Magic-Circle-Am-Law-100-Firms-Busy#ixzz3K7dvGQOU
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento