巴克莱面临美国新罚单 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.

巴克莱银行(Barclays)下月底前将支付巨额罚款，以了结对于其通过该行电子交易平台操纵外汇市场的指控，这为即将到任的首席执行官杰斯斯特利(Jes Staley，见上图)带来了一场早期考验。

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.

纽约州金融服务局(Department of Financial Services，简称DFS)很可能会根据操纵电子交易指控向巴克莱罚款至少1亿美元。知情人士称，在此之前的今年5月，巴克莱已经同意就操纵外汇现货交易向纽约州的银行监管机构支付4.85亿美元罚款。在这项处罚即将实施之际，美国监管机构对外汇市场的深入调查还产生了针对德意志银行(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.

根据评级机构穆迪(Moody's)本周的估算，自2008年金融危机以来，各大银行的诉讼费用已经达到近2190亿美元，其中大部分由美国的银行承担，缴纳罚金最多的是美国银行(Bank of America)，约700亿美元。

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.”

穆迪称，痛苦如今正在转向欧洲的银行。“我们认为未来还有更多处罚，”穆迪高级副总裁戴维范杰(David Fanger)表示。他指出，德意志银行和苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)在外汇交易和美国抵押贷款诉讼成本方面尤其脆弱。“眼下欧洲的银行很可能更脆弱，因为美国的银行已经缴了较多罚款。”

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.

据知情人士透露，巴克莱的最新罚款之所以低于5月份的罚金，是因为有问题的交易量较少。但他们表示，巴克莱涉嫌犯下的行为仍被认为是严重的，因为这家银行似乎有意通过自己的外汇交易平台，寻求获得对客户和竞争对手的不公平优势。

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.

上述人士称，纽约州金融服务局调查的一个重点是，如果市场波动对该行不利，巴克莱的系统会在最后一刻退出交易，这种操作被称为“最后看一眼”。巴克莱拒绝置评。自金融危机爆发以来，这家银行已为诉讼拨备了130亿美元。摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)前高管斯特利将在12月初上任，他的目标是迅速解决剩余的法律问题。

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，知情人士称，美国司法部、纽约州金融服务局以及其他联邦机构已经发现了德意志银行利用获悉的客户外汇订单进行非法抢先交易获利的证据。