Swiss competition regulator Weko has opened a full-scale investigation into whether seven banks colluded to manipulate the price of gold.
Following an initial probe, Switzerland's Weko watchdog is looking into UBS, Julius Baer, Deutsche Bank, HSBC (LON:HSBA), Barclays (LON:BARC), Morgan Stanley and Mitsui.
The banks are suspected of affecting the bid/ask spreads in the gold, silver and platinum markets.
Weko said it had reasons to believe prohibited agreements in the trading of precious metals were agreed among the banks mentioned.
Its inquiry follows similar investigations by the European Commission and the US Department of Justice.
In April, the European Commission issued a request for information related to HSBC’s precious metals operations, while the US Department of Justice investigation review started on the back of the manipulation in the foreign exchange markets.
The Swiss investigation is likely to be completed by the end of next year or in 2017, with the banks suspected of breaking the country’s corporate rules.
In May, four major banks, including Barclays, pleaded guilty to trying to manipulate foreign exchange rates.
In total, six banks were fined nearly US$6bn in a settlement in a global investigation into the US$5trn-a-day market.
Gold was trading 1.4% lower to US$1,129 while silver lost 3.5% to US$15.59 and platinum eased 2.4% to US$923.
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