UK Banks set for Wave of FX Compensation Claims

LONDON, July 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

London-based banks, already fined heavily by the international regulators, are soon to face a wave of compensation claims in the UK as a result of manipulating the FX markets between at least 2007 and 2013. Whilst the European Commission findings are expected to be published by the end of summer, investors, pension funds and companies can already file multi-billion dollar claims in Europe.

In October 2013 Scott+Scott launched a civil action to pursue damages against twelve banks - Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, RBS, and UBS - in the USA. These companies account for 98% of spot trading volume in the USA. Further action may also be taken against other banks as more information is uncovered either during international investigations or when shared by defendants upon settlement.

To date claims have only been launched in the USA. Scott+Scott today announced that it expects to shortly begin working on claims in the UK and intends to open an office in London to facilitate this. Over 40% of the global FX market, worth $5.3 trillion (£4.3 trillion) per day, is traded through London whereas approximately 25% is through the USA. This means that claims made in London are likely to be materially bigger than those launched in the USA.

Commenting on the likelihood of launching claims in the UK, David Scott, Managing Partner of Scott+Scott said, "To date every regulator around the world has found the banks guilty of manipulating FX rates. This has lost clients billions of dollars. We are already being approached by investors and funds to help assess their losses."

Key to bringing claims against banks is an ability to calculate the exact loss suffered by investors. Over the past three years Scott+Scott has developed techniques based on historic trading data that allows claimants to know how much the manipulation costs them on the basis of what any one trade would have been had the manipulation not taken place.