U.S. Department of Justice wants five banks to settle forex case by mid-May -FT

April 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice wants five banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co (Xetra: 850628 - news) and Barclays (Swiss: BARC.SW - news) Plc, to reach a joint "mega settlement" to allegations they manipulated foreign exchange markets, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the case.

The settlement would see some institutions pay about $1 billion each and is scheduled for mid-May, it said. The settlement talks also include Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C - news) , Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS Group AG (Other OTC: OUBSF - news) . (http://on.ft.com/1DFRUjx)

However, it is not certain whether the Department of Justice will be able to resolve all of the probes at once, the report said, citing sources close to the matter.

The probe is being led by the fraud division of the Department of Justice.

In November, regulators fined six major banks $4.3 billion in the first settlements over traders manipulating the foreign exchange market.

However, the settlement did not involve the Department of Justice.

Citigroup declined to comment. The other banks and the Department of Justice were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora and Manya Venkatesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)