被指操縱匯市 大銀行準備認罰

Eight of the world’s largest banks are set to discuss financial settlements with the European Commission, drawing a line under a four-year probe into allegations they formed a cartel to rig the $5.3tn global foreign exchange market.

世界最大銀行中的八家將與歐盟委員會(European Commission)協(xié)商達成財務和解，以求了結一場持續(xù)已四年的調查，癥結是它們被指控組成一個卡特爾，操縱5.3萬億美元的全球外匯市場。

UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Barclays, HSBC and two other banks are gearing up to negotiate settlements likely to cost billions of euros combined, according to several people close to the probe.

據(jù)接近調查的多名人士透露，瑞銀(UBS)、蘇格蘭皇家銀行(RBS)、摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)、花旗集團(Citigroup)、巴克萊(Barclays)、匯豐(HSBC)和另外兩家銀行正準備談判達成很可能高達數(shù)十億歐元的和解。

The cartel case — one of the biggest that Brussels has handled — poses a challenge to investigators because of the complexity of the alleged misconduct across a large number of currencies. It is one of the last in a flurry of investigations into the manipulation of financial benchmarks.

這個卡特爾案是布魯塞爾方面迄今調查過的最大案件之一，它對調查人員構成挑戰(zhàn)，因為涉嫌的違規(guī)行為涉及多種貨幣，十分復雜。它是監(jiān)管機構針對金融基準受到操縱的一連串調查中尚未完成的最后幾項調查之一。

Fines are expected to exceed the nearly €2bn imposed on banks during the EU’s earlier interest rate-rigging probes, some of the people said.

其中一些知情人士表示，本案的罰款可能超出歐盟在先前的利率操縱調查中向涉案銀行開出的近20億歐元罰單。

The EU forex probe follows investigations by American, British and Swiss officials, which have fined global banks more than $10bn for such offences. In total, financial institutions have paid more than $320bn in penalties since 2008, according to Boston Consulting Group.

歐盟對匯市的調查是在美國、英國和瑞士官員啟動調查之后展開的，這三個國家的官員已經針對這類違規(guī)行為向全球銀行罰款逾100億美元。根據(jù)波士頓咨詢集團(Boston Consulting Group)的數(shù)據(jù)，自2008年以來，全球金融機構總計已認罰逾3200億美元。

The banks involved are prepared to negotiate settlements with EU officials in the next few months, according to the people close to the case. Banks individually met the EU’s cartel-busters at the start of the year to view the evidence as the first step in the process, they said.

據(jù)接近本案的人士透露，相關銀行準備在未來幾個月與歐盟官員談判達成和解協(xié)議。他們表示，各銀行已在今年初分別與歐盟的反卡特爾官員們開會查看證據(jù)，作為這個過程的第一步。

It was not clear when the banks and EU officials would next meet, but deals were likely to be announced next year. The commission and the banks declined to comment.

尚不清楚相關銀行和歐盟官員下次開會安排在什么時候，但和解協(xié)議很可能在明年宣布。歐盟委員會和相關銀行均拒絕置評。