In the United Kingdom, a spate of investigations by regulators into the country’s banking sector continues to generate lucrative mandates for lawyers. Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher are among a host of top English and American firms called on to represent banks as regulators clamp down on poor service and market abuse.
Six major international banks were in November hit with record fines, following a 13-month investigation by U.K. and U.S. regulators into an attempted rigging of the foreign exchange (forex) market. The banks were fined a total of £2.6 billion ($4.3 billion) for failing to prevent traders from conspiring to manipulate the $5.3 trillion-per-day forex market. Dealers were accused by authorities of using online chatrooms to swap confidential information about client orders under aliases such as “the three musketeers” and “the players.” The £1.07 billion ($1.77 billion) fine by U.K. finance sector regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the largest ever levied against banks in London
