The Federal Reserve terminated a 2015 cease-and-desist order against Citi, stemming from the lender’s role in a foreign currency exchange gaming scheme, the central bank announced Thursday.
The Fed’s enforcement action included a $342 million penalty against the bank, as well as heightened oversight and reporting requirements.
Citi, at the time, pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiring to manipulate the price of dollars and euros exchanged in the foreign currency exchange spot market.
Four other banks — JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland (now NatWest) — pleaded guilty to similar charges. Collectively, the banks paid the U.S. Justice Department $2.5 billion in criminal penalties, with Citi paying $925 million.
Between 2013 and 2017, Citi’s FX traders conspired with those at three of the other named banks to alter exchange rates for their own benefit, the DOJ said.
As a result of the cease-and-desist order, Citi had to develop a plan to heighten its oversight of certain market activities; devise a plan for enhancing internal controls and compliance functions; audit its existing compliance program; and provide the Fed with regular updates on its progress.
“Citigroup has adopted a firm-wide risk management, compliance and audit program designed to identify and manage risks across the consolidated organization, the Fed board told Reuters.
Citi remains the subject of several other Fed enforcement orders, including a 2020 order that has spurred a large-scale revamp of its data architecture and modernization of information technology infrastructure.
Citi did not return a request for comment by press time.
