SEC the last hurdle in banks' forex pleas

Washington

BANKS want assurances from US regulators that they will not be barred from certain businesses before agreeing to plead guilty to criminal charges over the manipulation of foreign exchange rates, causing a delay in multibillion-dollar settlements, people familiar with the matter said.

In an unprecedented move, the parent companies or main banking units of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Barclays and UBS Group AG are likely to plead guilty to rigging foreign exchange rates to benefit their transactions.