LONDON (ShareCast) - US Department of Justice prosecutors are stepping up their major investigation into banks' rigging of the forex markets, conducting interviews with London traders in the coming weeks.
Officials from the US Department of Justice will interview current and former bank staff at several UK banks as part of an investigation into whether banks have been colluding to move currency rates in order to boost their profits by violating fraud or antitrust laws, according to sources cited by Reuters.

The report added that the decision to interview traders does not mean US prosecutors intend to file criminal charges against the lender or its employees, as it is common for investigators to speak to witnesses in any criminal probe.

Earlier in November, British, US and Swiss authorities fined HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and USB for manipulating foreign currency benchmarks.

The cumulative fines amounted to £2.74bn, while Barclays is in line for a larger fine that its peers as New York's Department of Financial Services seeks a more severe penalty.

US regulators have given banks until mid-December to turn over related information, while banks on both sides of the Atlantic have since suspended or fired more than 30 traders, clamped down on chat rooms and boosted their use of automated trading.

Earlier in November, US Attorney General Eric Holder said he expected "the beginning stages of a resolution" of DoJ investigation "to come soon".

Meanwhile, some law firms have talked about how banks could face legal claims from clients affected by the collusion, which could much larger than the regulatory fines.

Law firm Giambrone said its forex team "have been receiving numerous enquiries from forex traders and claimants across the globe seeking to sue financial institutions for hundreds of millions over global foreign exchange market rigging".

Lillo Boccadutri, a Giambrone associate said "we are poised to launch legal actions in Asia and Europe, including the UK".

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