(Adds details about case, background on investigation)
By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A former Barclays Plc trader pleaded guilty on Wednesday to U.S. charges arising froma global investigation into the manipulation of foreign-exchangeprices at major banks, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Jason Katz, a former Barclays trader who later worked at BNPParibas SA, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal courtto participating in a price-fixing conspiracy, becoming thefirst person to admit criminal wrongdoing in the probe.
Katz's plea came after Barclays and three other banks lastyear pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate currency prices.Barclays agreed to pay $2.4 billion to resolve various relatedU.S. and UK probes.
Prosecutors said that from January 2007 until July 2013,Katz, while working at three different financial firms,conspired with others to suppress competition by fixing pricesin Central and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Africancurrencies.
"These conspirators engaged in blatant collusion andsucceeded in manipulating exchange rates for multiple currenciesto their advantage," Deputy Assistant Attorney General BrentSnyder said in a statement.
A lawyer for Katz did not immediately respond to a requestfor comment.
In addition to pleading guilty, Katz also entered a consentagreement announced by the Federal Reserve Board that would banhim from the banking industry and require him to cooperate withits own investigation.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Katz joined BarclaysCapital in August 2010 from Standard Bank, before moving to BNPParibas in September 2011 as its director of emerging marketsforeign exchange trading.
He left two years later to join Australia & New ZealandBanking Group Ltd in September 2013, his LinkedInprofile said.
Barclays and the three other banks are scheduled to besentenced on Thursday by a federal judge in Connecticut.Barclays declined comment on Wednesday.
The case is U.S. v. Katz, U.S. District Court, SouthernDistrict of New York, No. 17-cr-003. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Greblerand Andrew Hay)
Barclays (BARC)
