Citigroup Seeking Extension to Retirement Plan Rules Exemption

Citigroup Inc. has asked the US Labor Department to extend a rules exemption it uses to manage retirement assets after the company entered into a plea agreement for a foreign markets price-fixing scheme in 2017.

Labor regulators are considering a four-year exemption that would allow the New York-based multinational investment bank to continue relying on its status as a qualified professional asset manager, despite the criminal conviction. QPAMs assist retirement plans in making transactions that would otherwise be prohibited due to potential conflicts of interest.

Citigroup, Barclays Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc pleaded guilty in May 2015 to rigging currency rates. As part of an overall $5.8 billion settlement with multiple regulators, they agreed to pay roughly $2.5 billion to the US Justice Department.

The Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, meanwhile, is considering a proposed rule that would expand the kinds of misconduct that disqualify QPAMs from conducting business on behalf of US retirement accounts. The agency will host a public hearing to discuss the proposal with stakeholders on Nov. 17.