Banks may pay $1bln in forex settlement

GOLDMAN Sachs, BNP Paribas, Barclays and HSBC have agreed to settle a civil case over the alleged rigging of the forex market.

FOUR major banks have reached separate agreements to settle a US civil lawsuit over alleged foreign-exchange rigging in deals totalling nearly $US1 billion ($A1.29 billion), sources close to the negotiations say.

BUT the agreements by Goldman Sachs, French bank BNP Paribas and British banks Barclays and HSBC are preliminary and could change, the sources said.