CMA fines four major banks after traders share sensitive information
Four major banks had reached an agreement with the Competition and Markets Authority to pay combined fines of more than £104.0m after the watchdog found that traders had shared sensitive information with one another between 2009 and 2013.
Banks
5,760.41
17:09 27/03/25
Citigroup Inc.
$71.85
11:10 27/03/25
Deutsche Bank AG
$24.50
10:59 27/03/25
FTSE 100
8,666.12
16:44 27/03/25
FTSE 350
4,727.39
17:09 27/03/25
FTSE All-Share
4,676.28
17:04 27/03/25
HSBC Holdings
893.40p
17:09 27/03/25
Morgan Stanley
$119.00
11:09 27/03/25
Royal Bank Of Canada
$114.71
10:59 27/03/25
The CMA announced that Citi would pay £17.2m, while HSBC was to be fined £23.4m, Morgan Stanley £29.7m and Royal Bank of Canada £34.2m. Deutsche Bank, however, received immunity after it informed authorities of its conduct.
Traders at the banks were found to have shared sensitive information in private one-to-one chat rooms regarding UK gilts they intended to buy and sell.
Juliette Enser, the CMA's executive director of competition enforcement, said: "Following constructive engagement between the banks and the CMA, we are pleased that we have been able to settle these five 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."
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com