Big banks lose bid to dismiss U.S. currency manipulation lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday said U.S. investors may pursue a nationwide antitrust lawsuit accusing 12 major banks of rigging prices in the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market.

U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan rejected the banks' arguments that there was no showing that their activities impeded competition or violated U.S. antitrust laws.

Schofield did dismiss two related lawsuits by foreign plaintiffs.

The bank defendants are Bank of America Corp , Barclays Plc , BNP Paribas SA , Citigroup Inc , Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank AG , Goldman Sachs Group Inc , HSBC Holdings Plc , JPMorgan Chase & Co , Morgan Stanley , Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG .

JPMorgan on Jan. 5 settled its portion of the case for about $100 million, according to court records and a person familiar with the matter. Schofield said the bank remains a defendant because its settlement has not yet been approved.

The case is In re: Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-07789.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)