21st Feb 2025 08:34
(Alliance News) - The UK's competition regulator on Friday said four banks will pay fines totalling GBP104.5 million after they reached settlements in a competition case relating to UK government bonds.
HSBC Holdings PLC, Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada have agreed to settle separate cases. Deutsche Bank AG has immunity for reporting its conduct, which began in 2009 and ended in 2013.
The Competition & Markets Authority said individual traders at each of the banks took part in private Bloomberg chatrooms in which they shared sensitive information relating to the pricing of UK bonds and details of transactions of gilts on specific dates.
HSBC was fined GBP23.4 million, including a 10% reduction for settling. Citi will pay a GBP17.2 million fine, including a 35% leniency discount and 20% reduction. Morgan Stanley and RBC were fined GBP29.7 million and GBP34.2 million, respectively, including a 10% reduction for settling.
The regulator said the fines take into account the time passed since the end of the infringement and the compliance measures the companies have implemented since.
CMA Executive Director of Competition Enforcement Juliette Enser said: "Following constructive engagement between the banks and the CMA, we are pleased that we have been able to settle these 5 cases involving the past sharing of competitively sensitive information about pricing.
"The fines imposed today reflect the CMA’s commitment to dealing with competition law breaches and deterring anti-competitive conduct. The fines would have been substantially higher had the banks not already taken unusually extensive steps to make sure that this doesn’t happen again."
HSBC shares were up 0.4% to 883.10 pence in London on Friday morning. Citigroup was down 0.2% to USD81.19 in pre-market trading in New York. Deutsche Bank was up 0.2% to EUR19.41 in Frankfurt.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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