巴克萊面臨美國新罰單 Barclays faces fresh US fine over forex

Barclays is set to pay a substantial fine to resolve allegations that it abused foreign exchange markets through its electronic trading platform by next month, presenting an early test for the bank’s incoming chief Jes Staley.

巴克萊銀行(Barclays)下月底前將支付鉅額罰款，以了結對於其通過該行電子交易平臺操縱外匯市場的指控，這爲即將到任的首席執行官傑斯斯特利(Jes Staley，見上圖)帶來了一場早期考驗。

The US Department of Financial Services is likely to impose a penalty of at least $100m for the alleged electronic trading abuses. This follows the $485m that the bank agreed to pay New York’s banking regulator in May over manipulation of forex spot trading, people familiar with the case said. The looming penalty comes as US agencies’ far-reaching forex probe also pursues fresh claims against Deutsche Bank.

紐約州金融服務局(Department of Financial Services，簡稱DFS)很可能會根據操縱電子交易指控向巴克萊罰款至少1億美元。知情人士稱，在此之前的今年5月，巴克萊已經同意就操縱外匯現貨交易向紐約州的銀行監管機構支付4.85億美元罰款。在這項處罰即將實施之際，美國監管機構對外匯市場的深入調查還產生了針對德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)的新指控。

Moody’s, the rating agency, calculated this week that banks’ litigation costs since the 2008 financial crisis have reached almost $219bn, with the bulk of the burden shouldered by US banks, led by Bank of America with provisions of about $70bn.

根據評級機構穆迪(Moody's)本週的估算，自2008年金融危機以來，各大銀行的訴訟費用已經達到近2190億美元，其中大部分由美國的銀行承擔，繳納罰金最多的是美國銀行(Bank of America)，約700億美元。

The pain is now shifting to their European counterparts, Moody’s said. “We think that more is still to come,” said David Fanger, senior vice-president, who pointed to Deutsche Bank and RBS as being particularly exposed to foreign exchange and US mortgage litigation costs, respectively. “At this point probably European banks are more vulnerable because US banks have [already] taken more of the provisions.”

穆迪稱，痛苦如今正在轉向歐洲的銀行。“我們認爲未來還有更多處罰，”穆迪高級副總裁戴維範傑(David Fanger)表示。他指出，德意志銀行和蘇格蘭皇家銀行(RBS)在外匯交易和美國抵押貸款訴訟成本方面尤其脆弱。“眼下歐洲的銀行很可能更脆弱，因爲美國的銀行已經繳了較多罰款。”

The latest fine facing Barclays is smaller than May’s penalty because there is a lower volume of trades at issue, according to people close to the negotiations. But Barclays’ alleged behaviour is still considered serious given that it seems the bank intentionally sought to gain unfair advantages over clients and counterparties through its forex trading platform, they said.

據知情人士透露，巴克萊的最新罰款之所以低於5月份的罰金，是因爲有問題的交易量較少。但他們表示，巴克萊涉嫌犯下的行爲仍被認爲是嚴重的，因爲這家銀行似乎有意通過自己的外匯交易平臺，尋求獲得對客戶和競爭對手的不公平優勢。

One focus of the DFS probe has been Barclays’ system for backing out of trades at the last minute if the market moves against the bank, known as “last look”, the people said. Barclays declined to comment. The bank has taken about $13bn of litigation provisions since the crisis. Mr Staley, a former JPMorgan Chase executive, takes over in early December with an objective to resolve swiftly remaining legal issues.

上述人士稱，紐約州金融服務局調查的一個重點是，如果市場波動對該行不利，巴克萊的系統會在最後一刻退出交易，這種操作被稱爲“最後看一眼”。巴克萊拒絕置評。自金融危機爆發以來，這家銀行已爲訴訟撥備了130億美元。摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)前高管斯特利將在12月初上任，他的目標是迅速解決剩餘的法律問題。

Separately, the US Justice Department, DFS and other federal agencies have found evidence that Deutsche made money by using its knowledge of client forex orders in illegal front-running, people familiar with that case said.

此外，知情人士稱，美國司法部、紐約州金融服務局以及其他聯邦機構已經發現了德意志銀行利用獲悉的客戶外匯訂單進行非法搶先交易獲利的證據。