(Financial) services Trio of banks around UBS defend themselves in vain against multi-million fine
UBS, the Italian UniCredit and the Japanese bank Nomura have unsuccessfully defended themselves against a multi-million fine in the legal dispute over illegal agreements in the trading of government bonds. UBS is considering an appeal.
26.03.2025, 13:31
26.03.2025, 14:50
SDA
The European Commission had ordered the banks to pay the fine because their traders had participated in a cartel for European government bonds with other banks between 2007 and 2011. The General Court of the European Union (EGC) confirmed this in its ruling, but reduced the fines for Nomura and UniCredit slightly.
In addition to UBS, UniCredit and Nomura, Natixis (France), Bank of America, WestLB (now Portigon, Germany) and RBS (now NatWest, UK) were also involved in the cartel, according to the EU Commission's investigations. They are alleged to have cooperated and exchanged information in order to gain competitive advantages in the issuance and trading of the bonds.
In 2021, the Commission imposed fines totaling 371 million euros on Nomura, UBS and UniCredit. It will be most expensive for UBS: its fine of a good 172 million euros remains unchanged. The fines for Nomura and UniCredit now amount to just under 126 million and 65 million euros respectively.
The new total for all three banks now amounts to 363 million euros.
RBS/NatWest went unpunished because it had reported the cartel, as did WestLB because it was split up in 2012 and its legal successor Portigon no longer generated any turnover. In the case of Bank of America and Natixis, the statute of limitations had expired. A total of seven financial institutions were involved in the cartel.
Judgment essentially confirmed
In essence, the EGC has now confirmed the Commission's decision. There had been a "single and continuous infringement" by the banks involved, which was particularly harmful to competition. The Commission was therefore not required to provide evidence of the banks' conduct in individual cases.
Both sides can still appeal against the ruling to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
UBS will evaluate the decision and consider whether it will appeal, the bank told the news agency AWP. According to earlier statements, it had already made provisions in an "appropriate" amount.
