Barclays pays US$150m to settle currency probe

New York

BARCLAYS plc agreed to pay US$150 million to New York's banking regulator to resolve allegations of abusive practices on its electronic currency exchange platform, agreeing to terminate the unit's head.

The London-based bank admitted unsafe and unsound conduct related to its electronic trading platform in a settlement with New York's Department of Financial Services (DFS). At issue was Barclays' use of a "last look" programming routine designed to defend the bank against opportunistic orders from sophisticated trading operations. Barclays employed the technology far more broadly, the New York regulator alleged, saying that the bank used it to cancel its clients' regular market-making trades when they would have resulted in losses to the bank.