OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2015.  Swiss bank UBS revised down net profit for 2014 after agreeing a settlement in a US antitrust lawsuit, in which investors accused banks of collusion in the \\$5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market.

Zurich-based UBS reached a settlement, subject to court approval, in March requiring it to pay \\$135 million, the bank said in its annual report published on Friday.

The settlement saw UBS increase litigation provisions to 3.05 billion Swiss francs (\\$3.03 billion), leading it to lower fourth-quarter net profit by 105 million francs.

"The principal change arose due to an increase in charges for provisions for litigation, regulatory and similar matters of 134 million francs," Switzerland's biggest bank wrote in its 2014 report.

Total net profit for 2014 is now 3.466 billion francs, compared with the 3.571 billion francs in net profit the bank had reported in February.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest US bank, in January agreed to pay \\$99.5 million to settle its portion of the antitrust lawsuit.

Switzerland's two biggest banks have now revised down fourth-quarter earnings. Credit Suisse said last month it would put aside more funds for a US probe and other litigation about whether it deceived investors in risky mortgage-backed securities.

UBS also said it was added in January to a class action lawsuit in the New York federal court related to the silver price benchmark known as the silver fix.

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UBS was hit by a bill of more than \\$1 billion last year to settle past scandals.

An investigation by the US Department of Justice into possible manipulation of foreign exchange markets continues.

The bank is also facing legal scrutiny in France into whether it helped wealthy French individuals to dodge tax.

UBS said in its annual report that it increased total pay for Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti to 11.16 million francs in 2014, during which shares edged 1 percent higher compared with a 2.8 percent fall in the European sector.

Ermotti earned 10.73 million francs in 2013.

In its compensation report, the bank said its board of directors recognized Ermotti's "sound leadership" as well as the bank's "strong performance" even after litigation provisions.

Overall pay for the bank's executive board fell to 80.06 million francs from 82.4 million francs in 2013. There were 10 members of the executive board at the end of 2014, compared with 11 at end-2013.