Bank of America Corp has settled its portion of a US antitrust lawsuit in which investors accused 12 major banks of rigging prices in the foreign exchange market. The settlement with the second-largest US bank was disclosed on Thursday by Scott & Scott, a law firm for the investors. Terms were not disclosed.
Bank of America is the third bank to settle investor claims related to the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market. JPMorgan Chase & Co settled for $99.5 million in January, and Switzerland's UBS AG settled for $135 million in March.
Scott & Scott said Bank of America's settlement will "mirror" the earlier accords, and that the bank will cooperate with investors in the remaining litigation. US and European regulators are also probing currency trading.
The settlement resolves claims that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America conspired with rivals to manipulate the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates, known as the Fix, in chat rooms, instant messages and emails.
Investors, including hedge funds and pension funds, said the 12 banks controlled 84.3 percent of the global currency trading market in 2013.
They said Bank of America held a 3.08 percent share, JPMorgan held 6.07 percent and UBS held 10.11 percent. The largest shares were held by Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc and Barclays Plc.
Lawrence Grayson, a Bank of America spokesman, declined to comment. Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said on a Wednesday conference call that the bank already set aside money for the accord.
David Scott, a lawyer for the investors, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last November, Bank of America agreed to a $250 million fine to resolve a currency-rigging probe by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
According to the investors, traders used disguised names to rig currency prices through practices referred to as "front running," "banging the close" and "painting the screen," and chat rooms called "The Cartel," "The Bandits' Club," "The Mafia" and "One Team, One Dream."
The case is In re: Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-07789.
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