SEC a stumbling block in banks' forex guilty pleas: sources

Reuters ^ | 14 May 2015 | Karen Freifeld, Sarah N. Lynch, Soyoung Kim

[Lorianne]

Banks want assurances from U.S. regulators that they will not be barred from certain businesses before agreeing to plead guilty to criminal charges over the manipulation of foreign exchange rates, causing a delay in multibillion-dollar settlements, people familiar with the matter said.

In an unprecedented move, the parent companies or main banking units of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS.L), Barclays Plc (BARC.L) and UBS Group AG (UBSG.VX) are likely to plead guilty to rigging foreign exchange rates to benefit their transactions.

The banks are also scrambling to line up exemptions or waivers from the Securities and Exchanges Commission and other federal regulators because criminal pleas trigger consequences such as removing the ability to manage retirement plans or raise capital easily.

In the past, waivers have generally been granted without a hitch. However, the practice has become controversial in the past year, particularly at the SEC, where Democratic Commissioner Kara Stein has criticized the agency for rubber stamping requests and being too soft on repeat offenders.