Four leading City banks have been fined more than £100 million for unlawfully sharing “competitively sensitive” information about the pricing of Government bonds.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada will all pay fines for their behaviour in the market for government bonds known as gilts.
But a fifth bank Deutsche Bank has given immunity for reporting its conduct, which began in 2009 and ended in 2013
The CMA said traders at each of the banks “took part in private one-to-one Bloomberg chatrooms in which they shared sensitive information relating to buying and selling gilts on specific dates.”
Following an investigation by the CMA, the banks have agreed to pay fines for their traders sharing competitively sensitive information about the pricing of gilts.
This occurred in one-to-one exchanges between traders about the buying and selling of gilts and gilt asset swaps.
It took place on various dates between 2009-2013, with the last exchanges occurring in 2010 for HSBC, 2012 for Morgan Stanley, and 2013 for each of Citi, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Canada.
Juliette Enser, Executive Director of Competition Enforcement at the CMA, 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 financial services sector is an integral part of the UK economy, contributing billions every year, and it’s essential that it functions effectively.
“Only through healthy and competitive markets can we ensure businesses and investors have confidence to invest and grow – for the benefit of all in the UK.”
“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.”
Four banks – Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada – have settled and agreed to pay fines totalling £104,460,000.
Citi was fined £17,16 million, HSBC £23.4 million, Morgan Stanley £29.7 million, and Royal Bank of Canada £34,200,000.
The firms have until 22 April 2025 to pay their fines.
