Bank of New York Mellon has reached a partial settlement of federal charges that it defrauded some of its customers by giving them lower rates on foreign currency conversions than they had been promised. The bank has agreed that it will no longer tell customers they are getting the “best execution” of their conversions. Southern District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the settlement on Jan. 17.
The office of Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara indicated separately that it hopes to resolve the issue of civil penalties next month. Mr. Bharara demanded “hundreds of million” in penalties when he filed the lawsuit in October. BNY Mellon has previously said the suit represents “prosecutorial overreach” and is based on a misunderstanding of the global foreign exchange market.
