Swiss authorities probe seven banks over precious metal price fixing

Swiss competition regulator Weko has opened a full-scale investigation into whether seven banks colluded to manipulate the price of gold.

The competition watchdog noted it had indications that the lenders in question had “possibly concluded illegal [price-fixing] deals within the precious metals market”.

Last year, Switzerland’s financial regulator Finma said it had found a “clear attempt” to manipulate precious metals price benchmarks during a cross-market investigation into trading at UBS.

Its inquiry follows similar investigations by the European Commission and the US Department of Justice.

The investigation is set to be finalized in either 2016 or 2017, said Patrik Ducrey, director of the Swiss competition commission.

Authorities in Switzerland have announced a probe into global banks over the suspected manipulation of the price of precious metals.

Representatives for UBS, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and HSBC declined to comment.

Julius Baer, which was not part of the United States investigation, told AFP Monday it was aware of the Swiss probe.

Share prices in both banks were down slightly in early trading.

UBS, which did not immediately return requests for comment Monday, said in May it had won immunity from criminal fraud charges in the U.S. probe, after agreeing to provide the Justice Department with information about precious metal transactions.

UBS’s second-quarter report noted investigations by a number of authorities into precious-metals prices.

Scrutiny of precious metals pricing ramped up with the LIBOR scandal in foreign exchange markets.

In May, five global banks were hit with $5.4 billion in penalties for trying to rig foreign currency markets in their favor.

A new method for setting the gold benchmark price is expected to take effect in March.