Goldman Sachs Group fined for FX practices

The Federal Reserve Board has issued an Order to Cease and Desist and Order of Assessment of a Civil Money Penalty upon Consent to The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., a registered bank holding company, for the firm's unsafe and unsound practices in its foreign exchange trading business.

The Board levied a $54,750,000 fine for deficiencies in Goldman's internal controls and oversight of traders who buy and sell U.S. dollars and foreign currencies for the firm's own accounts and for customers. The firm failed to detect and address its traders' use of electronic chatrooms to communicate with competitors about trading positions, including around benchmark fixes, and failed to detect and address the disclosure of confidential client information. The Board's order requires Goldman to improve its controls and compliance risk management for the firm's FX trading.

The Board was joined in its action by the New York State Department of Financial Services, which issued its own Consent Order, which assesses a separate $54,750,000 penalty.