The Illegal price-rigging touches already 16 banks.

Investors have recovered more than $2 billion in settlements with nine banks over claims of price-rigging in the foreign exchange market, and are continuing to pursue claims against seven other banks, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Thursday. Investors including hedge funds and pension funds accused the banks of impeding competition by conspiring for manipulations. According to the plaintiffs, traders at the banks used chat rooms with names such as "The Cartel," "The Bandits' Club," and "The Mafia" to communicate with each other.

HSBC Holdings Plc , Barclays Plc , BNP Paribas SA and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are among the latest banks to reach settlement in the class action litigation, Christopher Burke, the lawyer, said in federal court in Manhattan.Those banks and five others have agreed to provide "substantial cooperation" as the plaintiffs pursue claims against seven other defendants accused of manipulating prices in the $5.4 trillion-per-day foreign exchange market, Burke said.

Michael Hausfeld, Burke's co-counsel, called the deals "just the beginning," saying he is being consulted about bringing cases overseas regarding conduct in the larger Asian and European markets.

Both lawyers declined to say much each bank would pay. Goldman Sachs will pay $129.5 million, a person familiar with the matter said. The Wall Street Journal in June reported that HSBC would pay $285 million while Barclays would pay $375 million. Those numbers remain unconfirmed, and the banks on Thursday either declined comment or did not respond to requests for comment.

In total, U.S. and European regulators have extracted more than $10 billion in settlements with seven banks over the alleged manipulation schemes.