Britain's financial watchdog has closed down a probe into possible foreign exchange market fraud, saying it did not have enough evidence to secure convictions, in a fresh blow to its efforts to prosecute wrongdoers.
The investigation by the Serious Fraud Office began in July 2014 after material was passed to it by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority.
In November 2014, the FCA fined five banks, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Citi a total of 1.1 billion for failing to control business practices in their spot foreign exchange trading operations.
The SFO said on Tuesday that its decision followed an independent investigation lasting more than one and a half years and involving in excess of half a million documents.
"The SFO has concluded, based on the information and material we have obtained, that there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction," the SFO said.
The SFO, which investigates and prosecutes major and multi-national fraud, bribery and corruption, said it continued to liaise with the U.S. Dept. Of Justice over their ongoing investigation.
(Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Carolyn Cohn)
