Switzerland probes top banks for currency manipulation

Corporate News

Switzerland is investigating a range of banks, including domestic leaders UBS and Credit Suisse along with top global houses, over suspicions they manipulated currency markets. The probe includes JPMorgan Chase (above), Citigroup, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland as well as the Zurich cantonal bank ZKB and private banking group Julius Baer, the Competition Commission (COMCO). Photo/AFP 

By AFP

In Summary

• The banks are suspected, among others, of exchanging sensitive information and coordinating their buying and selling of currencies in a bid to impact the exchange rates.

Switzerland said Monday it was investigating a range of banks, including domestic leaders UBS and Credit Suisse along with top global houses, over suspicions they manipulated currency markets.

The probe includes JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland as well as the Zurich cantonal bank ZKB and private banking group Julius Baer, the Competition Commission (COMCO) said in a statement.

"There are indications that the banks reached agreements about currency rates," COMCO said, adding that it suspected the manipulation had affected "the rates of the most important currencies."

The banks are suspected, among others, of exchanging sensitive information and coordinating their buying and selling of currencies in a bid to impact the exchange rates.

The competition authority, which had already launched a preliminary probe into the matter last September, said it could not exclude that other banks and brokerages were involved in the suspected activities.