Citigroup Gets Final 401(k) Exemption After Price-Fixing Scheme

Citigroup Inc. will be allowed to continue managing US retirement assets until at least 2027, despite its past conviction for antitrust violations in the foreign exchange spot market.

The US Labor Department renewed the company’s individual qualified professional asset manager exemption Friday. The legal exemption allows behemoth financial firms such as Citigroup to conduct otherwise conflicted trades on behalf of retirement plans.

Companies lose their QPAM status when they or their affiliates are convicted of foreign or domestic felonies.

A London-based Euro/dollar trader employed by Citigroup engaged in a conspiracy to fix exchange prices by eliminating competition between 2007 and ...