* Antitrust body says investigating impact on S.Korea firms
* 6 global banks recently fined after U.S., Europe forexprobe
* Unclear whether S.Korea probe will result in any sanctions (Adds details, comment, background)
By Lee Chang-ho and Joyce Lee
SEOUL, June 17 (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust regulatorsaid on Wednesday it is investigating whether the actions of sixglobal banks recently fined nearly $6 billion in a U.S. andEuropean forex probe had any impact on local firms.
Fair Trade Commission Chairman Jeong Jae-chan told aparliamentary hearing the regulator is examining whether thereare grounds for sanctions against the six banks, without givingspecific details.
Yim Jong-yong, head of the financial industry regulator,also told lawmakers his agency would assist in the probe.
It was not immediately clear whether the investigation willresult in formal sanctions.
The six banks involved in the global foreign exchange ratesscandal were Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co,Barclays Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, UBSAG and Bank of America Corp.
Four of them - Citigroup, JPMorgan, Barclays and Royal Bankof Scotland - pleaded guilty in May of trying to manipulateforeign exchange rates, and along with UBS and Bank of America,were fined nearly $6 billion in another settlement in the globalprobe.
A case against any of those banks in South Korea could bedifficult to prove, as the FTC would need to determine whethertheir actions affected local market rates such as won-dollar, anantitrust lawyer at a large domestic firm said, declining to benamed as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"It's a complicated case. Depending on how well theconnections can be made, the FTC could drop it early or it couldtake a while," the lawyer said.
In the U.S. and European probes, investigators focused onactivity in the euro-dollar exchange rate, but those benchmarkshave little bearing on the South Korean market, as the rates aretypically set when the onshore spot market is closed, a localbank executive said, declining to be identified because he isnot authorised to speak with the media.
Barclays, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan and UBSdeclined to comment on Wednesday on the South Korea probe. RBScould not immediately be reached for comment.
So far, the forex scandal has had a limited impact in Asia. Last December, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it found noevidence of rigging in its foreign exchange benchmarks, butidentified "inappropriate" behaviour by individual traders.
In Singapore, the region's largest forex trading centre, thecentral bank has not launched a standalone probe, but has saidit is willing to assist foreign regulators.
In 2012, the South Korean antitrust body said it began aninvestigation into banks and brokerages on suspicion ofcollusion in setting three-month certificate of deposit rates.
The agency has said it will announce its findings as quicklyas possible but has yet to do so. (Additional reporting by Se Young Lee, Yena Park and JoshuaFranklin; Editing by Tony Munroe and Miral Fahmy)
Barclays (BARC)
