NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs ( GS ),

German industrial company BASF and two other banks

agreed to pay $20 million to settle a nearly decade-old

antitrust lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to suppress

platinum and palladium prices.

A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was

filed on Friday night in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan,

and requires a judge's approval.

The defendants also include HSBC ( HSBC ) and London-based

ICBC Standard Bank. All four defendants denied

wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

Platinum and palladium are used in catalytic converters to

curb vehicle emissions, and also in dentistry and jewelry.

Purchasers of platinum, palladium and futures contracts for

the metals accused the defendants of conspiring from Jan. 1,

2008 to Nov. 30, 2014 to rig the twice-daily platinum and

palladium "fixings" by sharing customer data, front-running

expected price moves, and placing bogus "spoof" orders.

The purchasers said lower metals prices reduced the cost

that banks and their clients paid for platinum and palladium,

and enabled banks to avoid losses on "short" positions they

maintained in futures markets.

Lawyers for the purchasers called the settlement an

"excellent" result that was fair, reasonable and adequate.

They plan to seek up to one-third of the settlement, or

$6.67 million, in legal fees, plus up to $600,000 for expenses.

The lawsuit is one of several in the Manhattan court

accusing big banks of colluding in various markets including

interest rate benchmarks, U.S. Treasuries, currencies and

commodities.

The case is In re: Platinum and Palladium Antitrust

Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York,

No. 14-09391.