Trio of banks around UBS defend themselves in vain against multi-million fine
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UBS, the Italian UniCredit and the Japanese bank Nomura have unsuccessfully defended themselves against a multi-million fine in the legal dispute over illegal collusion in the trading of government bonds. UBS is considering an appeal.
The European Commission had fined the banks because their traders had participated in a cartel for European government bonds with other banks between 2007 and 2011. The General Court of the European Union (EGC) confirmed this in its judgement but reduced the fines for Nomura and UniCredit slightly.
According to the European Commission’s investigations, in addition to UBS, UniCredit and Nomura, Natixis (France), Bank of America, WestLB (now Portigon, Germany) and RBS (now NatWest, UK) were also involved in the cartel. They are alleged to have cooperated and exchanged information in order to gain competitive advantages in the issuance and trading of the bonds.
In 2021, the Commission imposed fines totalling €371 million (CHF354 million) on Nomura, UBS and UniCredit. UBS will be the most expensive: its fine of €172 million remains unchanged. The fines for Nomura and UniCredit now amount to just under €126 million and €65 million respectively.
The new total for all three banks now amounts to €363 million.
RBS/NatWest went unpunished because it had reported the cartel, as did WestLB because it was split up in 2012 and its legal successor Portigon no longer generated any turnover. In the case of Bank of America and Natixis, the statute of limitations had expired. A total of seven financial institutions were involved in the cartel.
Judgement essentially confirmed
The EGC has now essentially confirmed the Commission’s decision. There had been a “single and continuous infringement” by the banks involved, which was particularly harmful to competition. The Commission was therefore not required to provide evidence of the banks’ behaviour in individual cases.
Both sides can still appeal against the judgement to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
UBS will assess the decision and consider whether it will appeal, the bank told the news agency AWP. According to earlier statements, it had already recognised provisions in an “appropriate” amount.
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Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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