Forex rigging scandal: Key points

What is the Forex market?

The foreign exchange market -known as Forex- is a virtual trading place where dealers buy and sell currencies. 40% of all trades occur in London.

Deals at today's price are called the "spot" market and bets can also be made on future exchange rates.

Much of the trading is speculative, but much of it is to meet the essential trading needs of companies and large city institution like pension funds.

How much were the fines for RBS and HSBC?

The Financial Conduct Authority imposed the following fines on the British banks involved in the scandal:

Royal Bank of Scotland: £217 millionHSBC: £216,363,000

For details of the fines levied on the other international banks, click here.

How big is the foreign exchange market?

Huge. According to figures from the World Bank, the Forex day trade dwarfs the annual UK economic output.

UK annual economic output: £1.6 trillion

Forex market trade per day: £3.3 trillion

It's worth noting that much of the Forex trading takes place in a one minute window at 16:00 GMT each day.

Are any other British banks involved?

Potentially. Barclays has not been named as one of the banks taking part in the current FCA 'settlement'. In a statement on their website, the FCA say they are continuing to investigate Barclays.

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