FX Fixing: Citi Fines Total $1bn as OCC Hits Wall Street Giant With Another Penalty

Citi has confirmed that it will pay around $1bn in fines to three separate authorities, only hours after US and UK regulators revealed that it has fined five banks collectively for $3.4bn for manipulating the currency markets.

The Wall Street giant announced in a statement that it will pay $358m to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, $350m to the Office of the US Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and $310m to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

"Citi acted quickly upon becoming aware of issues in our foreign exchange business and we have already made changes to our systems, controls and monitoring processes to better guard against improper behaviour," said Citi in a statement.

"While today's settlements resolve significant investigations into Citi's foreign exchange business, as we have previously disclosed, several additional regulatory agencies and enforcement bodies are conducting investigations and making inquiries into this business. We continue to fully cooperate with these investigations and inquiries."

The bank added that these payments are covered by Citi's existing legal reserves as of the third quarter 2014.

Citi has also agreed to further enhance the control framework governing its foreign exchange business.

Earlier today (12 November), the FCA fined Citibank $359m (£225.6m, €288m), HSBC $343m, JPMorgan $352m, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) $344m and UBS $371m.

The CFTC also issued its own civil monetary penalties, ordering Citibank and JPMorgan to pay $310m each, RBS and UBS $290m each, and UBS $275m.