Switzerland's UBS paying $135M to settle claims of aiding currency-rate rigging by big banks

Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, has agreed to pay $135 million to settle claims that it helped rig currency-exchange rates in a scheme involving some of the world's biggest banks.

The settlement announced Friday by the lead law firm in the case resolves a class-action lawsuit against UBS by pension funds and other investors that engaged in foreign currency transactions with the bank. The investors also sued 11 other major banks, accusing them of colluding together to fatten their profits.

Authorities in the U.S., Great Britain and Switzerland have put banks' conduct in the multitrillion-dollar currency market under scrutiny. UBS, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and two other banks were recently fined a total $3.4 billion in civil settlements with regulators in those countries. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation.