被指操纵汇市 大银行准备认罚

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.

世界最大银行中的八家将与欧盟委员会(European Commission)协商达成财务和解，以求了结一场持续已四年的调查，症结是它们被指控组成一个卡特尔，操纵5.3万亿美元的全球外汇市场。

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.

据接近调查的多名人士透露，瑞银(UBS)、苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)、摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)、花旗集团(Citigroup)、巴克莱(Barclays)、汇丰(HSBC)和另外两家银行正准备谈判达成很可能高达数十亿欧元的和解。

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.

这个卡特尔案是布鲁塞尔方面迄今调查过的最大案件之一，它对调查人员构成挑战，因为涉嫌的违规行为涉及多种货币，十分复杂。它是监管机构针对金融基准受到操纵的一连串调查中尚未完成的最后几项调查之一。

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，本案的罚款可能超出欧盟在先前的利率操纵调查中向涉案银行开出的近20亿欧元罚单。

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.

欧盟对汇市的调查是在美国、英国和瑞士官员启动调查之后展开的，这三个国家的官员已经针对这类违规行为向全球银行罚款逾100亿美元。根据波士顿咨询集团(Boston Consulting Group)的数据，自2008年以来，全球金融机构总计已认罚逾3200亿美元。

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.

据接近本案的人士透露，相关银行准备在未来几个月与欧盟官员谈判达成和解协议。他们表示，各银行已在今年初分别与欧盟的反卡特尔官员们开会查看证据，作为这个过程的第一步。

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.

尚不清楚相关银行和欧盟官员下次开会安排在什么时候，但和解协议很可能在明年宣布。欧盟委员会和相关银行均拒绝置评。