CFTC v. Citibank, HSBC, JPMorgan, RBS and UBS (FX benchmark manipulation, 2014)

Settled

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In November 2014 the CFTC issued five orders settling charges against Citibank N.A., HSBC Bank plc, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and UBS AG for attempting to manipulate global FX benchmark rates, including the WM/Reuters closing spot rates, by coordinating trading with other banks in private chat rooms. The orders impose over $1.4 billion in penalties: $310 million each for Citibank and JPMorgan, $290 million each for RBS and UBS and $275 million for HSBC.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$1.5bn

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$1.5bn

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on November 12, 2014 as release 7056-14. The respondents named are Citibank N.A., HSBC Bank plc, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and UBS AG (0 individuals, 5 entities).

This library tags the matter as benchmark submission rigging, fx fixing and price manipulation, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against fx.

The relief recorded in our data is civil monetary penalties of $1.475 billion in total (the five amounts in the release add up to that figure; the release itself says over $1.4 billion). Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with 3 techniques in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Benchmark submission rigging — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• FX fixing — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• Price manipulation — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2014-11-12 CFTC release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• CFTC release

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 20, 2026. submit a correction.