Banks probed for alleged rigging
A group of investors and pensions funds have sued 12 international banks for allegedly manipulating foreign exchange markets to their favor, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The suits were filed Monday night at a federal court in Manhattan, the paper said on its web site.
The plaintiffs, based in the United States or the Caribbean, accuse the banks of communicating amongst themselves via text messages or emails to carry out an accord to rig forex prices, the Journal said.
All the plaintiffs had already filed individual suits against the banks, but have now consolidated their complaints.
The banks are BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, UBS, Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Several probes have been opened around the world into allegations that major banks rigged forex rates.
The latest was one announced Monday evening by the Swiss Competition Commission over a possible price-fixing deal between UBS and Crédit Suisse.
- Sapa