BNP Paribas in Milan, Italy.

BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to a single count violation of the Sherman Act and agreed to a $90 million criminal fine to settle an investigation into a foreign exchange price-fixing conspiracy involving central and eastern European, Middle Eastern and African currencies, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

“The Antitrust Division is committed to uncovering and prosecuting wrongdoing in all corners of the foreign currency exchange market, including this conspiracy affecting multiple emerging market currencies,” Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said in a statement. “The division's investigation aims to root out and eradicate the manipulation that has plagued this industry.”

According to the DOJ, traders for the bank and unnamed co-conspirators attempted to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing prices of the affected currencies. Non-bona fide trades were entered into among the conspirators on an electronic FX trading platform, which were then either canceled or nullified by trades in the opposite direction in an attempt to conceal the actions from other FX participants.

From as early as late 2011 through at least 2013, the conspirators also coordinated price, size and timing of their bids and offers, federal prosecutors said, as well as agreeing to refrain from trading to help other co-conspirators with a need to buy or sell that was greater than the other participants, thus keeping prices beneficial to the favored trader.

The bank deal follows from two guilty pleas earlier in January by traders directly working in the affected currency markets. Jason Katz, a former BNP trader, pleaded guilty to price-fixing conspiracy charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Jan. 4. Eight days later, Christopher Cummins, a former trader with Citigroup, pleaded guilty to similar charges in the same court.

Federal prosecutors noted that BNP Paribas is now the sixth major bank to plead guilty as part of an ongoing investigation into antitrust and fraud crimes inside the foreign exchange market. In May 2015, Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays and RBS pleaded guilty to charges related to the investigation and collectively agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion in criminal fines. UBS would later plead guilty to manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate and other benchmark interest rates, and agree to a $203 million criminal penalty.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors recommended no probation for the bank in light of the bank's compliance with the investigation and remediation efforts, as well as future promises of cooperation.

In a statement released on its website Friday, BNP stated it “deeply regrets the past misconduct,” calling it “a clear breach of the high standards on which it operates.”

“Conducting its business in a responsible and ethical manner is a cornerstone of BNP Paribas' values and the group will continue to make improvements to ensure that it delivers on its responsibilities to all its stakeholders,” the bank stated.

Allen & Overy partner David Esseks led the bank's legal representation in the matter.