LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - European banking shares fell onWednesday after global regulators imposed penalties totalling$3.4 billion on five major banks in a landmark settlement overallegations of price fixing in the foreign exchange market.
Shares in Barclays featured among the biggestlosers, down 1 percent. The bank, a major player in the foreignexchange market, had been expected to be part of the settlementbut the FCA said its investigation into the British bank wascontinuing.
Global regulators imposed the penalties on five leadingbanks including UBS, HSBC and Citigroup on Wednesday in the settlement.
Royal Bank of Scotland and JP Morgan werealso fined for attempting to manipulate foreign exchangebenchmarks in a year-long probe that has put the largelyunregulated $5 trillion-a-day market on a tighter leash, withdozens of dealers suspended or fired.
The STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index retreated by 0.4percent, although UBS rose by 0.4 percent, as sometraders said the fact that UBS had reached a settlement on thematter was a positive development.
"Now that the fines have been done and dusted, it may not betaken too badly by the market," said Terry Torrison, managingdirector at Monaco-based McLaren Securities. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Blaise Robinson)
Barclays (BARC)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)
