The European Commission (EC) said in a statement Thursday that it had fined five banks 1.07 billion euros ($1.2 billion) for taking part in cartels
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2019) The European Commission (EC) said in a statement Thursday that it had fined five banks 1.07 billion euros ($1.2 billion) for taking part in cartels."In two settlement decisions, the European Commission has fined five banks for taking part in two cartels in the Spot Foreign Exchange market for 11 currencies - Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, US, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian Dollars, and Danish, Swedish and Norwegian crowns," the EC said.
European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said that the decision to impose fines on the five banks was meant to show that the European Commission was not going to tolerate collusion in the financial market.
"The first decision (so-called 'Forex - Three Way Banana Split' cartel) imposes a total fine of 811 197 000 on Barclays, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup and JPMorgan. The second decision (so-called 'Forex- Essex Express' cartel) imposes a total fine of 257 682 000 on Barclays, RBS and MUFG Bank (formerly Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi)," it said.
According to the Commission, its investigation has revealed that certain traders who were in charge of spot trading in these currencies at the Foreign Exchange provided each other with trading plans and related sensitive information, and sometimes coordinated their actions on behalf of the banks.
"The information exchanges, following the tacit understanding reached by the participating traders, enabled them to make informed market decisions on whether to sell or buy the currencies they had in their portfolios and when," the Commission added.
According to the body, the infringements took place between 2007 and 2013. A sixth bank that was involved in the collusive behavior, Swiss UBS, was spared a 285 million euro fine for revealing the cartels, the Commission said.
