By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp has settled its portion of a U.S. antitrust lawsuit in whichinvestors accused 12 major banks of rigging prices in theforeign exchange market.
The settlement with the second-largest U.S. bank wasdisclosed on Thursday by Scott & Scott, a law firm for theinvestors. Terms were not disclosed.
Bank of America is the third bank to settle investor claimsrelated to the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market. JPMorganChase & Co settled for $99.5 million in January, andSwitzerland's UBS AG settled for $135 million in March.
Scott & Scott said Bank of America's settlement will"mirror" the earlier accords, and that the bank will cooperatewith investors in the remaining litigation. U.S. and Europeanregulators are also probing currency trading.
The settlement resolves claims that Charlotte, NorthCarolina-based Bank of America conspired with rivals tomanipulate the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates, known as the Fix,in chat rooms, instant messages and emails.
Investors, including hedge funds and pension funds, said the12 banks controlled 84.3 percent of the global currency tradingmarket in 2013.
They said Bank of America held a 3.08 percent share,JPMorgan held 6.07 percent and UBS held 10.11 percent. Thelargest shares were held by Deutsche Bank AG,Citigroup Inc and Barclays Plc.
Lawrence Grayson, a Bank of America spokesman, declined tocomment. Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said on aWednesday conference call that the bank already set aside moneyfor the accord.
David Scott, a lawyer for the investors, did not immediatelyrespond to a request for comment.
Last November, Bank of America agreed to a $250 million fineto resolve a currency-rigging probe by the U.S. Office of theComptroller of the Currency.
According to the investors, traders used disguised names torig currency prices through practices referred to as "frontrunning," "banging the close" and "painting the screen," andchat rooms called "The Cartel," "The Bandits' Club," "The Mafia"and "One Team, One Dream."
The case is In re: Foreign Exchange Benchmark RatesAntitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District ofNew York, No. 13-07789. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Dan Grebler)