The commission said it recognised the bank's cooperation with its investigation.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has fined Deutsche Bank’s securities arm $70 million to settle charges that it manipulated the leading benchmark for fixed rates on interest rate swaps. 

Established in 1998 by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the ISDAfix benchmark rate allows traders to agree the pricing for interest rate swaps before they expire.

The CFTC’s order found that over a five-year period, beginning in at least January 2007 through to May 2012, Deutsche made bogus reports and several of its traders attempted to rig the US dollar ISDAfix to benefit the bank’s positions.

James McDonald, the CFTC’s director of enforcement, said: “This action reflects the CFTC’s continued and vigilant commitment to protect those who rely on the integrity of critical financial benchmarks. There is no room in our markets for manipulation—we will continue to work hard to stamp it out, wherever we find it.”

During the alleged period of malpractice, the US dollar ISDAfix was determined each day through a process that began ay 11:00am (ET) with the capture and recording of swap rates and spreads from a US-based unit of a leading interest rate swaps brokerage.

The order alleged that certain Deutsche traders tried to skew the rate by bidding, offering and executing transactions in targerted interest rate products, including swap spreads and US Treasuries around the critical 11:00am fixing time to impact rates on the electronic interest rate swap screen. This was evidence in recorded calls and communications, in which traders talked about “pushing” or “moving” the fix, or “getting the print” at a price to benefit Deutsche’s positions, the CFTC said. 

Family Wealth Report has reached out to Deutsche for comment and will update coverage accordingly. 

The settlement is the latest in a string of compliance fines the bank has been ordered to pay in recent years, the total figure for which runs into several billions of dollars. 

Last week, the Frankfurt-headquartered lender, which operates in multiple countries including the US, reported a loss before income taxes in the fourth quarter of 2017 of €1.3 billion ($1.63 billion), narrowing from €2.4 billion in the same period a year ago.