Citigroup, HSBC Among Banks Named in Brazil Currency Probe
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Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley, HSBC Holdings Plc and 12 other banks are being investigated for currency manipulation by Brazil’s antitrust agency after similar probes in the U.S. and Europe led to penalties of more than $10 billion.
Cade, as the regulator is known, found “strong signs” of anticompetitive price-fixing practices, according to an e-mailed statement Thursday from the Brasilia-based regulator. Banks coordinated currency transactions and pricing data and blocked competitors from operating freely in the Brazilian foreign-exchange market, according to the allegations.