Rabobank Fined Over Euro-denominated Bonds Trading Cartel; Deutsche Bank Avoids Fine

(RTTNews) - The European Commission stated that it has fined Rabobank 26.6 million euros for participating in a cartel concerning the trading of certain Euro-denominated bonds, together with Deutsche Bank. However, Deutsche Bank was not fined as it revealed the cartel to the Commission under the leniency programme. The Commission's leniency programme gives companies the opportunity to disclose their participation in a cartel. Deutsche Bank received full immunity from fines for revealing the cartel, thereby avoiding a fine of almost 156 million euros.

The products concerned by the cartel are Euro-denominated SSA bonds and Government Guaranteed bonds traded in the European Economic Area. Between 2006 and 2016, the two banks, through some of their traders, exchanged commercially sensitive information and coordinated their trading and pricing strategies.

The Commission's investigation started in May 2017 following an immunity application under the 2006 Leniency Notice submitted by Deutsche Bank.