Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has confirmed the federal court has approved a settlement in relation to the trading of bank bills in connection with the Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW).
The major will pay around $20m in total payments after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) began proceedings.
A statement on the bank's website says, "Commonwealth Bank (CBA) confirms the Federal Court of Australia has approved its settlement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in relation to the trading of bank bills in connection with the Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW).
"CBA has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty, a payment of $15 million to a financial consumer protection fund and a $5 million payment towards ASIC's costs of the litigation and its investigation.
"CBA has also agreed to enter into an enforceable undertaking with ASIC, under which an independent expert will be appointed to review controls, policies, training and monitoring in relation to its BBSW business."
Not the first bank to be found to affect the BBSW, last month the federal court also found that Westpac traded with the dominant purpose of influencing yields of traded Prime Bank Bills and where BBSW set in a way that was favourable to its rate set exposure.
