The Swiss prosecution says an undisclosed number of individuals are being investigated for violating banking laws, but no banks are being probed for criminal misconduct.
Several individuals are now under investigation by Swiss authorities in relation to manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Authorities stated an undisclosed number of people are being investigated under suspicion of violating Switzerland's banking secrecy laws, and breach of trust, according to the Wall Street Journal. No details about the individuals have been released, though the prosecution says it's not looking into any banks.
The prosecution also said it's conducting the investigation alongside Switzerland's financial regulator, FINMA and has been in contact competition commission WEKO.
The latter is also conducting a separate probe into allegations a number of banks have colluded to influence forex markets.
The announcement comes on the heels of a group of some of the world's biggest banks being slapped with billions of dollars in penalties, in relation to an investigation into an international forex scandal.
After a 1.5 year investigation by regulators in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland, traders were alleged to have secretly collaborated online to maximize profits from forex exchanges since as early as 2009.
These traders allegedly met in chat rooms to swap private client details. In total, financial giants accused of failing to stop the traders including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, the Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS will all pay out US$3.4 billion. Since 2012, big banks have paid out over US$10 billion due to the scandal.
Two more major banks caught up in the scandal still have not settled. Barclays says it has not reached an agreement with regulators, while an investigation into Deutsche Bank is ongoing.
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