五大銀行操控匯率被罰款56億美元

Adding another entry to Wall Street’s growing rap sheet, five big banks have agreed to pay about $5.6 billion and plead guilty to multiple crimes related to manipulating foreign currencies and interest rates, federal and state authorities announced on Wednesday.

華爾街的犯罪記錄又添一樁。美國聯邦與州級政府在週三宣佈，五大銀行同意支付約56億美元（約合350億元人民幣），並承認了多項有關操縱外匯及利率的罪名。

The Justice Department forced four of the banks — Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland — to plead guilty to antitrust violations in the foreign exchange market as part of a scheme that padded the banks’ profits and enriched the traders who carried out the plot. The traders were supposed to be competitors, but much like companies that rigged the price of vitamins and automotive parts, they colluded to manipulate the largest and yet least regulated market in the financial world, where some $5 trillion changes hands every day, prosecutors said.

司法部強迫其中四家銀行──花旗集團(Citigroup)、摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)、巴克萊銀行(Barclays)和蘇格蘭皇家銀行(Royal Bank of Scotland)──承認在外匯市場違反了反壟斷法，且違法活動是一個陰謀的一部分。這個陰謀爲銀行增加利潤，讓執行陰謀的交易員發了財。檢方表示，這些交易員本應相互競爭，但他們卻像操縱維生素和汽車零件價格的公司一樣，在這個日交易額約5萬億美元的金融領域最大卻最缺乏監管的市場，進行合謀操縱。

Underscoring the collusive nature of their contact, which often occurred in online chat rooms, one group of traders called themselves “the cartel,” an invitation-only club where stakes were so high that a newcomer was warned, “Mess this up and sleep with one eye open.”

他們通常在網絡聊天室裏聯繫。其中一個交易員團體自稱“卡特爾”(Cartel)，突顯了這種聯繫的合謀本質。這個邀請制團體牽涉的利益之大，以致於一個新加入的人被警告，“搞砸了就別想睡安穩。”

To carry out the scheme, which went on nearly every day for five years through 2012, one trader would typically build a huge position in a currency and then unload it at a crucial moment, hoping to move prices. Traders at the other banks agreed to, as New York State’s financial regulator put it, “stay out of each other’s way.”

在五年的時間裏，這套手段天天都在上演，一直持續到2012年。爲執行這個密謀，交易員通常會選擇一種貨幣大量建倉，然後在關鍵時刻拋售，以期改變價格。其他銀行的交易員則如紐約州的金融監管機構所稱，約定“互不擋道”。

The banks also misled their clients about the price of currencies, the federal and state authorities said, imposing “hard mark-ups,” which one Barclays employee described as the “worst price I can put on this where the customers decision to trade with me or give me future business doesn’t change.” Or, to put their mission in the starkest of terms, the employee said: “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”

聯邦和州級政府表示，這些銀行還在匯率上誤導客戶，強行採用“硬標高”價格。巴克萊銀行的一名員工形容，這是“在不會導致客戶不與我交易，或未來不再給我生意的前提下，我能給出的最差價格。”這名員工說，“不騙人就不算努力。”這是對他們的使命做出的最赤裸裸的描述。

A fifth bank, UBS, will also plead guilty on Wednesday to manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, a benchmark rate that underpins the cost of trillions of dollars in credit cards and other loans. Federal prosecutors had previously agreed not to prosecute the Swiss bank over the Libor scheme. But in a rare stand against corporate recidivism, the Justice Department voided that non-prosecution agreement after learning that UBS was also taking part in the effort to manipulate currency prices.

第五家銀行瑞士聯合銀行集團(UBS)也在週三認罪，承認操縱倫敦銀行同業拆借利率（London Interbank Offered Rate，簡稱Libor）。這個基準利率是數萬億信用卡消費及其他形式貸款的成本覈算的基礎。聯邦檢查官先前同意，不就Libor操縱陰謀起訴這家瑞士銀行。但在得知UBS也參與了操縱外匯價格的活動後，司法部罕見地對企業累犯行爲採取了行動，撤銷不起訴協議。

The guilty pleas, which the banks are expected to enter in federal court in Connecticut on Wednesday, represent a first in a financial industry that has been dogged by numerous scandals and investigations since the 2008 financial crisis. Until now, banks have either had their biggest banking units or small subsidiaries plead guilty. But with the four banks charged with currency violations, the guilty pleas will come from their parent companies.

這些銀行預計將於週三在康涅狄格州的聯邦法院進行認罪答辯。在自2008年金融危機以來一直深受無數醜聞和調查困擾的金融界，這尚屬首次。在這之前，銀行要麼是讓自己最大的銀行業務部門，要麼是讓規模較小的子公司認罪。但這一次，對於四家被控違反外匯規定的銀行，將由其母公司認罪。

That result represents a victory for a Justice Department, which has faced criticism for going too soft on big banks, whose size and significance to the global economy had rendered them — in the minds of some regulators and politicians — too big to jail.

這個結果是司法部的一大勝利。司法部被人批評對大銀行不夠強硬。在某些監管機構與政治人士看來，這些企業的規模之大，對全球經濟之重要，將它們定罪的後果是不堪設想的。

“Today’s historic resolutions are the latest in our ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, and they serve as a stark reminder that this Department of Justice intends to vigorously prosecute all those who tilt the economic system in their favor; who subvert our marketplaces; and who enrich themselves at the expense of American consumers,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said on Wednesday.

“今天達成的歷史性和解，是我們不斷努力調查並起訴金融犯罪的最新成果，這明確顯示司法部的決心，我們將大力追究任何爲私利操縱經濟系統的人；這些人在破壞我們的市場；並犧牲美國消費者的利益來爲自己牟取財富，”美國司法部長洛蕾塔‧E‧林奇(Loretta E. Lynch)週三表示。

For the banks, though, life as a felon is likely to carry more symbolic shame than practical problems. Although they could be technically barred by American regulators from managing mutual funds or corporate pension plans or perform certain other securities activities, the banks have obtained waivers from the Securities and Exchange Commission that will allow them to conduct business as usual. In fact, the cases were not announced until after the S.E.C. had time to act.

但對於這些銀行而言，被判犯有重罪帶來的損害可能只是象徵性的恥辱，並不構成實際的問題。雖然從嚴格意義上來說，美國監管機構會禁止這些銀行管理共同基金、企業養老金計劃或從事其他證券活動，但這些銀行已經獲得美國證券交易委員會（Securities and Exchange Commission，簡稱SEC）的豁免，可以照常開展業務。實際上，直到SEC有時間採取行動後，這些案件纔對外公佈。

And at least for now, the Justice Department did not indict any traders or sales employees whose errant instant messages underpin the criminal cases against the banks. The banks long ago dismissed most of the employees suspected of wrongdoing, though the New York State financial regulator, Benjamin M. Lawsky, forced Barclays to dismiss eight additional employees thought to be at the center of the scheme.

至少到目前爲止，司法部尚未起訴任何交易員或銷售人員。這些人員閒聊時發送的即時信息，在針對這些銀行的刑事案件中充當了證據。這些銀行早已解僱大部分涉嫌違法的僱員，但紐約州的金融監管官員本傑明·M·勞斯基(Benjamin M. Lawsk)仍迫使巴克萊銀行解僱了另外八名據信參與陰謀的員工。

In addition to the criminal cases with the Justice Department, the banks each struck settlements with Mr. Lawsky as well as federal regulators. Barclays settled with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Reserve, the Financial Conduct Authority of London and Mr. Lawsky, paying a total sum of $2.4 billion.

除了司法部的案件之外，這些銀行都與勞斯基及聯邦監管機構達成了和解。巴克萊銀行與美國商品期貨交易委員會(Commodity Futures Trading Commission)、美聯儲(Federal Reserve)、倫敦金融市場行爲監管局(Financial Conduct Authority)及勞斯基達成和解，支付總計24億美元的罰款。

Citigroup paid the second-highest penalty, roughly $1.2 billion, including a $925 million antitrust penalty, the largest single fine ever imposed for a violation of the Sherman Act. JPMorgan paid roughly $900 million, and R.B.S. paid about $660 million.

花旗銀行支付的罰金數額在五家銀行排名第二，約爲12億美元，其中包括9.25億美元的的反壟斷罰款，這是有史以來因爲違反《謝爾曼反托拉斯法》(Sherman Antitrust Act)而受到的最高額罰款。此外，摩根大通支付了大約9億美元的罰款，蘇格蘭皇家銀行則支付了6.6億美元。

UBS agreed to pay more than $500 million, some of which was earmarked for the Libor crimes and the rest for currency manipulation. The bank, which was the first to cooperate in the currency case, was not criminally charged in that matter.

瑞銀同意支付逾5億美元的罰款，其中部分款項用於支付Libor案的罰金，其餘金額則用來支付操縱匯率案的罰款。該銀行最早配合匯率操縱案的調查，因此在最初免於受到刑事指控。

But the Justice Department tore up the bank’s earlier Libor nonprosecution agreement, saying that it took that unusual step because of the bank’s repeat offenses.

但司法部撕毀了之前與瑞銀就Libor案簽署的不起訴協議，稱之所以採取非常手段，是因爲瑞銀一再犯案。

“UBS has a ‘rap sheet’ that cannot be ignored,” said Leslie R. Caldwell, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division.

司法部刑事部門負責人萊斯莉·R·考德威爾(Leslie R. Caldwell)表示，“瑞銀有不容忽視的‘前科’。”

The punishments announced on Wednesday come in addition to the $4.25 billion that some of these same banks agreed pay in November to resolve foreign exchange investigations by a slew of regulators. And yet the penalties may still continue.

除了週三公佈的處罰以外，其中幾家銀行在去年11月同意支付42.5億美元的罰款，了結一些監管機構開展的外匯交易調查。然而，罰款可能會繼續增加。

Mr. Lawsky has said that he is examining whether Barclays and other banks used electronic foreign exchange trading platforms to cheat their clients. The settlement announced on Wednesday did not release the bank from any future penalties.

勞斯基表示，他正在調查巴克萊等銀行是否利用電子外匯交易平臺欺騙客戶。週三公佈的和解方案並未免除銀行在未來受到處罰的可能性。

In a statement, Mr. Lawsky called the first batch of misconduct “a brazen ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ scheme to rip off their clients.”

勞斯基在聲明中表示，這一系列的不端行爲，是“爲了盤剝客戶採取的無恥陰謀，無論如何客戶都會受損。”

Aitan Goelman, the head of enforcement at the C.F.T.C., released his own statement saying that “there is very little that is more damaging to the public’s faith in the integrity of our markets than a cabal of international banks working together to manipulate a widely used benchmark in furtherance of their own narrow interests.”

商品期貨交易委員會執法負責人艾坦·戈爾曼(Aitan D. Goelman)單獨發表聲明表示，“一夥跨國銀行爲了一己之私，聯手操縱廣泛使用的基準指標，這嚴重損害了民衆對金融市場的信任，遠甚於其他任何事件。”