Bloomberg: Barclays, Citi, RBS Forex Messages Under Regulatory Probe

(RTTNews) - Senior traders of banks, including Barclays Plc (BARC.L, BCS), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS, RBS.L) are under regulatory scanner for potential manipulation of the foreign-exchange market, Bloomberg reported, quoting four people with knowledge of the probe.

These dealers are said to have exchanged messages through Bloomberg terminals, giving details of their positions and client orders. Trades were made before key benchmarks were set.

This message group was often referred to as "The Cartel." The list of banks involved changed to include lenders such as UBS AG (UBS), as these traders changed their employers.

Regulators are probing whether these messages amounted to attempts to manipulate the market. The four banks together account for over 40 percent of trading in the foreign exchange market worth $5.3 trillion-a-day.

According to one trader, who was part of the group, there was no wrongdoing and these messages only tried to match buyers and sellers for large orders.

BARC.L settled down 1.9 percent at 278.30 pence while RBS.L slid 0.6 percent at 376.90 pence.

Citi closed up 0.6 percent at $51.12 and UBS closed at 18.95 Swis sfrancs in Zurich.