The European Comission has fined the banks Barclays, RBS, HSBC y Credit Suisse with 344 million euros in total for participating in a case of manipulation in the eleven currency market, including the euro, US dollars and the British pound.
UBS also participated in the illegal agreement, but has avoided a fine of 94 million euros for having revealed to the community authorities the existence of the same, reported the European institution in a statement.
Specifically, the sanction against HSBC amounts to 174.3 million, while Barclays and RBS will have to pay 54.3 million and 32.5 million, respectively. These three entities benefited from a 10% reduction for collaborating in the investigation, a behavior that did not follow Swiss credit, for which he faces a fine of 83.3 million euros.
Commitment
“Our decision to fine UBS, Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse sends a clear message that the (European) Commission remains committed to ensuring a strong and competitive financial sector that is essential for investment and growth.” Vice President of the Community Executive responsible for Competition policy, Margrethe Vestager.
Brussels concluded in its sixth foreign exchange investigation that some financial traders exchanged “sensitive” information on behalf of these banks in the markets of the euro, the pound, the yen, the Swiss francs, the US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars. and the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian crowns.
Sharing this information allowed them to “make informed market decisions about whether and when to sell or buy currencies they had in their portfolios”, as well as to “identify opportunities for coordination” of their strategies, for example avoiding interference in the market in moments when another bank in the group was already operating.
Related news
The investigation completed by the European Commission, dubbed Sterling Lads, completes a broader campaign to act against cases of manipulation in the currency market.
In other previous investigations, in addition to those involved in the latter, financial entities such as Citigroup, JM Morgan or Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (now called Bank MUFG) were involved.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com