A London court is set to revive a £2.7 billion lawsuit against major banks including Citigroup, UBS, Barclays, MUFG and JPMorgan over alleged foreign exchange rigging.

The case was originally brought by former Competition and Markets Authority inquiry chair Phillip Evans. The opt-out case represented thousands of asset managers, pension funds and financial institutions, and was based on findings of the European Commission, which fined banks more than €1 billion in 2019 for rigging the foreign exchange market between 2007 and 2013.

The lawsuit’s progress was halted last year by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which ruled that claims could only be brought on an opt-in basis. However, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision on Tuesday, meaning that the case can now proceed at the CAT.

Hausfeld lawyer Anthony Maton, representing Evans, said: "A judgement of this nature was required for all those UK businesses – big and small – who have suffered loss as a result of the manipulation of the FX markets to achieve restitution."

In light of the EC’s findings in 2019, some of the world’s biggest investment banks paid more than a combined $11 billion in fines to settle allegations of forex manipulation from regulators in the US, UK and Europe.

Share Story: