(Adds share price gain in eighth paragraph.)
By Rory Gallivan
LONDON-Barclays PLC Wednesday said it would pay a combined 1.53
billion pounds ($2.37 billion) in fines to various U.S. and U.K.
regulators to settle investigations into alleged manipulation of
foreign-exchange markets.
The British bank has also agreed to plead guilty to a violation
of U.S. antitrust law. The lender said fines would be covered by
existing provisions of more than GBP2 billion.
The Barclays settlements are with the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, the New York State Department of Financial
Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System and the U.K. Financial Conduct
Authority.
The U.K.'s FCA said its fine for Barclays, of GBP284.43 million
was the largest financial penalty ever imposed by the regulator. It
is for the bank's failure to control business practices in its
foreign-exchange business in London between 2008 and 2013.
"Barclays' failure adequately to control its FX (foreign
exchange) business is particularly serious in light of its
potential impact on the systemically important spot FX market," the
FCA said.
Barclays settled at the second stage of the FCA's investigation,
qualifying for a 20% discount, the FCA said, adding that otherwise
it would have imposed a financial penalty of GBP355.54 million.
Separately, Barclays has reached a settlement with the CFTC as
part of an industry-wide investigation into the setting of the U.S.
Dollar ISDAfix benchmark.
Barclays shares at 1434 GMT were trading up 8 pence, or 3%, at
271 pence, valuing the company at GBP45.3 billion.
Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com; Twitter:
@RoryGallivan