At a press conference this week, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch accused a number of international banks of forming a cartel, and announced that Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, JPMorgan Chase, UBS and Citigroup will be fined roughly $5.7 for rigging the market.
The banks were found guilty of manipulating the global price of currency as well as fixing interest rates.
“They acted as partners, rather than competitors, in an effort to push the exchange rate in directions favorable to their banks, but detrimental to many others. The prices the market sets for those currencies influence virtually every sector of every economy in the world. Their actions inflated the bank’s profits, while harming countless consumers, investors and institutions around the globe,” Lynch said at the press conference.
“Today’s historic resolutions are the latest in our ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, and they serve as a stark reminder that this Department of Justice intends to vigorously prosecute all those who tilt the economic system in their favor; who subvert our marketplaces; and who enrich themselves at the expense of American consumers,” she added.
This type of market rigging has been going on for centuries, but this is the first time that banks have been forced to pay such a large sum of money for global market manipulation. However, there has not yet been any indication to how the money will actually be used and where it will go. Since it is the government that is prosecuting this case, it is likely that this money could just end up in a budget for personal expenses, or even in a war budget.
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John Vibes writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.
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