RBS share price: Group hit with forex fine in Switzerland

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LON:RBS) and blue-chip peer Barclays (LON:BARC) have been among several lenders fined in Switzerland over currency rigging. The news comes after the European Commission recently fined a string of banks, including RBS and Barclays, for rigging the foreign exchange market.

RBS’ share price fell in the previous session, giving up 0.47 percent to close at 213.40p, underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index gaining 39.63 points to close 0.55 percent higher at 7,259.85. The lender’s shares have given up more than 18 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with a near six-percent fall in the Footsie.

RBS fined in Switzerland

Switzerland’s Competition Commission (COMCO) announced in a statement yesterday that it had imposed fines of around CHF 90 million (£71.3 million) on several lenders for anti-competitive arrangements in foreign exchange spot trading. RBS in particular was fined CHF 22,5 million (£17.8), while Barclays’ fine stood at CHF 27 million (£21.5 million).

“Traders of Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and UBS (listed in alphabetical order) participated in the «Three way banana split» cartel from 2007 to 2013. Participants in the «Essex express» cartel (from 2009 to 2012) were traders of Barclays, MUFG Bank, RBS and UBS,” COMCO explained in the statement. The watchdog said that its decision can be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court.

Analysts on FTSE 100 group

Morgan Stanley, which rates the bailed-out lender as an ‘equal weight,’ trimmed its target on the RBS share price from 300p to 270p this week, while Numis reaffirmed the company as a ‘buy,’ without specifying a valuation on the shares. According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip group currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating and an average price target of 301.69p.