The European Antitrust notified 13 of the world's major investment banks that they had identified violations of the rules on competition between 2006 and 2009 in the context of the investigations carried out on the sector of CDS (Credit default swaps), the insurance contracts against the risk of bond default. This was announced by the Commission's Competition Officer, Joaquin Almunia, during a press conference.
In particular, according to the EU executive, the banks in question allegedly entered into agreements aimed at preventing the entry into the sector of some stock exchange management companies such as Deutsche Boerse and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The banks feared losing turnover from the trading of securities which mainly take place with OTC (Over the counter) systems, i.e. outside the regulated markets and with the banks themselves as intermediaries.
The sending of this type of notification does not prejudge the final results of an actual investigation and "now the banks will be able to argue their defences", added Almunia. The institutes in question are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Bear Stearns, Bnp Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Hsbc, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ubs, but under the spotlight of 'EU Antitrust there are also the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) and the financial information and data company Markit.
