Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Five banks colluded in the government debt market, UK watchdog provisionally rules

Published 24/05/2023, 08:43
Updated 24/05/2023, 08:41
© Reuters.  Five banks colluded in the government debt market, UK watchdog provisionally rules

© Reuters. Five banks colluded in the government debt market, UK watchdog provisionally rules

Proactive Investors - The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally ruled that Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Deutsche Bank AG (ETR:DBKGn), HSBC Holdings PLC (LON:HSBA), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), and the Royal Bank of Canada breached competition law by sharing sensitive trading information on the UK government debt market.

Discussions, which are alleged to have taken place in Bloomberg private chat rooms between 2009-13, revolved around the purchase and sale of government bonds, specifically gilts and gilt asset swaps, and allegedly included strategy details such as pricing.

The CMA's director of enforcement, Michael Grenfell, said: "Our provisional decision has found that, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, five global banks broke competition law by taking part in a series of one-to-one online exchanges of competitively sensitive information on pricing and other aspects of their trading strategies on UK bonds.

"This could have denied taxpayers, pension savers and financial institutions the benefits of full competition for these products, including the minimisation of borrowing costs."

Deutsche alerted the CMA to the issue, while Citi has asked for leniency.

The watchdog's probe is ongoing, though it has warned it could issue fines if its initial conclusions are upheld.

Read more on Proactive Investors UK

Disclaimer

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.