British Court Blocks Forex Rigging Class Action against Major Banks

London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has reportedly blocked a planned forex class action against JPMorgan, Citigroup, Barclays, UBS and NatWest on Thursday. According to Reuters, the multi-billion pound claim was brought by thousands of asset managers, pension funds and financial institutions over alleged forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term rigging.

On Thursday, the court ruled that the case could not proceed as an opt-out class action in the US.

Over two forex cartels branded 'Essex Express' and 'Three-Way Banana Split', the European Commission fined banks a combined 1.11 billion euros ($1.11 billion) in 2019 in relation to the proposed lawsuit.

The former Chairman of Pensions Regulator, Michael O’Higgins and the former Competition Markets Authority inquiry Chairman, Phillip Evans had been vying to lead a class action on behalf of financial claimants.

“This decision is extremely disappointing because this claim is exactly the sort of claim that opt-out proceedings were introduced to facilitate in order to provide access to justice to all entities affected by the illegal behavior of cartelists. We are reviewing our options to decide how to move forward in a way that best serves the class that we seek to represent,” O’Higgins commented.

As of press time, banks involved in the case have not issued a statement addressing the matter.

HSBC and ECU Group Accusations

Last year, a currency manager, ECU Group, accused the multinational investment bank HSBC of fraud and misconduct within its forex trading Forex Trading Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currencies with the aim of generating a profit. The value of currencies, especially floating currencies, fluctuate to varying degrees. This constant volatility of exchange rates opens the door for speculators to invest in a certain currency against another. The Forex market is the world’s biggest and most liquid market, with over $5 billion turnover every single day, with the market being open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.It goes without saying Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currencies with the aim of generating a profit. The value of currencies, especially floating currencies, fluctuate to varying degrees. This constant volatility of exchange rates opens the door for speculators to invest in a certain currency against another. The Forex market is the world’s biggest and most liquid market, with over $5 billion turnover every single day, with the market being open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.It goes without saying Read this Term desk between 2004 and 2006. An alleged ‘rotten culture’ allowed bankers to misuse confidential data during such a period.

In fact, the ECU Group claims that HSBC is responsible for having committed fraud related to 52 forex trades it placed with the bank in those years. The allegations were made in the context of a trial that expects to last for at least seven weeks. The banking giant denied all the claims made by the currency manager at the time.