(Adds details on Cade's probes into currency rigging by morebanks)
SAO PAULO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Brazilian antitrust watchdogCade said it has fined five international banks a combined 183.5million reais ($54 million) as part of a settlement of chargesthey rigged the country's currency market.
In a statement late on Wednesday, Cade said it signed anaccord with Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, DeutscheBank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorganChase & Co. The watchdog said it will continue a probeof potential currency market violations involving other banks.
In July 2015, Cade accused a total of 15 banks of colludingto influence benchmark currency rates in Brazil by aligningpositions and pushing transactions in a way that deterredcompetitors from the market between 2007 and 2013.
Deutsche Bank and Barclays declined to comment on thesettlement. Media representatives for JPMorgan, Citigroup andHSBC did not immediately comment.
According to Cade's statement, the five banks agreed toadmit to anti-competitive practices and cooperate with thewatchdog in revealing how they manipulated exchange ratespublished by financial information companies and monetaryauthorities.
Cade's probe alleged that traders from the 15 banks probablyfront-ran client orders and pushed through trades that affectedthe way benchmarks like Brazil's PTax and WM/Reuters rates wereset. They might have also colluded to fix spreads on clienttrades, unveil spot and future trades that should have been keptconfidential and even deal flow volume data, it said.
The watchdog plans to open a separate probe into possiblecollusion and currency rate-manipulation across severalexchanges by some banks and other firms.
The investigations are offshoots of a five-year probe by theU.S. Department of Justice, which was paid $5.8 billion by someof the world's largest banks to settle charges of currencyrigging. Five of those banks, which are being probed by Cade,pleaded guilty as a result of the U.S.investigation. (Reporting by Reese Ewing; Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal,Lisa Von Ahn and Paul Simao)