Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland are among five banks that have been slapped with a £930 million fine for taking part in a foreign exchange trading cartel, the European Commission has announced.
Citigroup, JPMorgan and MUFG have also fined by the European Commission in two settlements.
A combined fine of 811.2 million euros (£708.6 million) was levied on Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup and JPMorgan in the first settlement, while the second settlement saw a further 257.7 million euros (£225.1 million) fine slapped on Barclays, RBS and MUFG Bank (formerly Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi).
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: "Companies and people depend on banks to exchange money to carry out transactions in foreign countries.
"Foreign exchange spot trading activities are one of the largest markets in the world, worth billions of euros every day.
"Today we have fined Barclays, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup, JPMorgan and MUFG Bank and these cartel decisions send a clear message that the Commission will not tolerate collusive behaviour in any sector of the financial markets.
"The behaviour of these banks undermined the integrity of the sector at the expense of the European economy and consumers."
