May 24 French bank BNP Paribas on Wednesday agreed to pay $350 million to New York’s banking regulator for allowing more than a dozen traders and salespeople in New York and other key trading hubs to manipulate foreign exchange prices.

The fine, imposed by New York’s Department of Financial Services, found the bank failed to properly supervise its global foreign exchange business.

Foreign exchange traders in New York, London, colluded in online chat rooms to manipulate the currency prices, the regulator said. Traders executed fake trades to influence exchange rates of emerging market currencies, and improperly shared confidential customer information with traders at other large banks, the regulator said.

The misconduct took place between 2007 and 2011, according to the regulator, and the bank agreed to improve oversight.

Some employees involved were terminated, while others left the bank earlier, the regulator said.

A spokeswoman for BNP Paribas did not immediately return a call for comment. (Reporting By Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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