CORRECT: Citibank Ordered To Pay $425 Million By CFTC For Benchmark Abuses

Citibank N.A., a unit of Citigroup Inc. , and its Japanese affiliates has been ordered Wednesday by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission to pay a $175 million penalty for attempting to manipulate yen London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and euroyen Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate (TIBOR) benchmark rates. In a separate statement Wednesday, the CFTC ordered Citibank to pay $250 million for attempting to manipulate, and for falsely reporting, U.S. dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix rates. That brings the total penalties Citibank has been ordered to pay for abuses of benchmark rates to $735 million. Citibank was charged for the false reporting of euroyen TIBOR to benefit derivatives trading positions that were priced based on yen LIBOR or euroyen TIBOR, and with the false reporting of U.S. dollar LIBOR to avoid generating negative media attention during the financial crisis. "The CFTC remains steadfast in its commitment to ensure the integrity of global benchmarks that are critical to the U.S. and international financial markets," said CFTC Director of Enforcement Aitan Goelman. "As evident by today's actions, the CFTC's vigilance includes holding a financial institution, like Citi, responsible each time it acts to undermine a benchmark for its personal profit or benefit." Citigroup's stock, which tacked on 0.8% in premarket trade, has tumbled 11% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.6%. (This replaces a previous item that incorrectly reported that the total amount of penalties Citibank has been ordered to pay was ordered on Wednesday).