Barclays Agrees to Pay $50 Million to Settle NY Forex Rigging Claims
Barclays has agreed to pay $50 million to settle claims that it abused a system intended to block stale foreign exchange prices to boost profits at the expense of its clientele. Barclays also agreed to provide information that the plaintiff, Axiom Investment Advisors, can use to pursue other banks that engaged in similar “last look” practices.
Barclays and many other banks were accused of rigging the foreign exchange system by putting holds on orders for milliseconds to allow the bank to determine if the prices customers sought were within a certain range. If they were not, the bank would enter a worse price or cancel the trade entirely with little or no explanation. While that seems inconsequential to most, the delay allowed the bank to exploit the system for profit.
The settlement applies to anyone who was affected by Barclays’ practice between June 1, 2008 and the date the proposed settlement is approved, who lived in the U.S. or placed an order using BARX, the bank’s electronic trading platform.
This will bring to a close Axiom’s suit against Barclays brought in November, only two weeks after the bank was fined $150 million by the New York Department of Financial Services for similar “last look” actions.
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The attorneys at Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. have prevailed and recovered against brokerage firms and their employees for their wrongful actions. If you have suffered investment losses of any type, contact us to schedule an appointment or consultation today.
