EU Fines Nomura, UBS And UniCredit EUR 371 Mln For Bond-Trading Cartel

(RTTNews) - The European Commission said it has fined Nomura, UBS and UniCredit a total of 371 million euros for participating in a European Governments bonds trading cartel.

NatWest, previously known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group, was not fined as it revealed the cartel to the Commission. Bank of America and Natixis are not fined either because their infringement falls outside the limitation period for imposition of fines.

Portigon, the legal and economic successor of WestLB, received a zero fine as it did not generate any net turnover in the last business year which served as a cap to the fine.

The Commission alleged that the seven investment banks participated in a cartel through a group of traders working on their European Governments bonds desks and operating in a closed circle of trust.

The traders exchanged commercially sensitive information. They informed and updated each other on their prices and volumes offered in the run up to the auctions and the prices shown to their customers or to the market in general.

The conduct partially took place during the financial crisis and more specifically between 2007 and 2011, and affected the entire European Economic Area.

The competition watchdog noted that the behavior of the seven banks violates EU rules that prohibit anticompetitive business practices such as collusion on prices.