EU Fines J.P. Morgan, HSBC, Cré dit Agricole $520 Million for Collusion
December 07 2016 - 7:00AM
Dow Jones News
BRUSSELS—European Union antitrust authorities on Wednesday
slapped HSBC Holdings PLC, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Cré dit
Agricole SA with fines worth a total of 485 million euros ($519.7
million) for colluding in the manipulation of a benchmark interest
rate.
The European Commission, the bloc's competition regulator, said
the banks breached EU antitrust rules by colluding on euro
interest-rate derivative pricing and exchanging sensitive
information.
Wednesday's announcement was the culmination of an EU cartel
investigation that started around five years ago, and echoes the
findings of U.S. and British regulators that have accused five
financial institutions of widespread efforts to manipulate Libor
and the euro interbank offered rate, or Euribor.
"Banks have to respect EU competition rules just like any other
company operating in the single market," said EU antitrust chief
Margrethe Vestager.
The EU had filed the formal charges against the three companies
in 2014. The commission continued to investigate them after EU
authorities in 2013 levied a €1.71 billion fine against several
other financial companies, accusing them of operating cartels
involving benchmark interest rates.
Cré dit Agricole, HSBC and J.P. Morgan Chase chose not to settle
that cartel case, the commission said.
The EU hit J.P. Morgan with the largest fine, at around €337.2
million, followed by Cré dit Agricole, which was fined around
€114.6 million. HSBC has been fined around €33.6 million.
The EU said it determined the individual fines based on the
individual bank's value of sales for the products and the duration
of each bank's participation in the cartel.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2016 06:45 ET (11:45 GMT)
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