LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays hassuspended several traders amid multiple investigations intopossible manipulation of benchmark foreign exchange rates, abanking industry source said on Friday.
A string of banks, including Standard Chartered, JPMorgan and Citigroup, have put dealers on leave asregulators in the United States, Europe and Asia investigatewhether there has been manipulation in the $5.3 trillion-a-dayforeign exchange market.
Barclays said in its results on Wednesday it was reviewingits currency trading operations and cooperating with authoritiesin their probes.
Barclays declined further comment then or on Friday.
Citigroup and JP Morgan disclosed on Friday that variousauthorities were questioning them about their currency tradingoperations in their quarterly filings with the U.S. Securitiesand Exchange Commission.
Royal Bank of Scotland also said it was co-operatingwith various governments and regulators in the investigation andreviewing communications and procedures used by its traders.
RBS declined to comment on Friday on a report in theFinancial Times that said it had suspended two traders in itsforeign exchange division.
In echoes of the global probe into the manipulation ofbenchmark interest rates, authorities are investigating whethertraders at investment banks colluded with counterparts at otherbanks to try and rig benchmark FX rates, tipping each other offabout their positions to try and influence the rate set.
Benchmark FX rates, often referred to as fixes, are acornerstone of global financial markets, used to price trillionsof dollars worth of investments and deals and relied upon bycompanies, investors and central banks.