Major Banks Suspected of Collusion in Bond-Rigging Probe
Patricia Kowsmann and Margot Patrick, 20 December 2018
The European Commission suspects Deutsche Bank AG , Credit Suisse Group AG, Crédit Agricole SA and another global bank of colluding to manipulate a multi-trillion-dollar government-backed bond market, escalating a long running probe.
The European Union’s executive arm, which opened the investigation almost three years ago, said in a statement Thursday that banks will now lay out their defenses. If found guilty, they could face a fine of up to 10% of their annual world-wide revenue.
The commission didn’t name the banks. Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and France’s Crédit Agricole confirmed they were among the four. Shares of Deutsche Bank were down 5% and Credit Suisse shares were 3.1% lower Thursday. Crédit Agricole shares were down 3.3%.
Other banks including Bank of America Corp. had previously said in filings that regulators had asked for information about their trading of such bonds. Bank of America declined to comment Thursday.
Another bank, Nomura Holdings Inc. that had been probed in the case, said it isn’t among the four banks.
