Trio of banks around UBS defend themselves in vain against multi-million fine
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: EU court maintains fine against UBS
UBS, the Italian UniCredit and the Japanese bank Nomura have unsuccessfully defended themselves against a multi-million fine in the legal dispute over illegal collusion in the trading of government bonds. UBS is considering an appeal.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Bankentrio um UBS wehrt sich vergebens gegen Millionenstrafe
Original
The European Commission had fined the banks 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 judgement but reduced the fines for Nomura and UniCredit slightly.
According to the European Commission’s investigations, 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. 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 totalling €371 million (CHF354 million) on Nomura, UBS and UniCredit. UBS will be the most expensive: its fine of €172 million remains unchanged. The fines for Nomura and UniCredit now amount to just under €126 million and €65 million respectively.
The new total for all three banks now amounts to €363 million.
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.
Judgement essentially confirmed
The EGC has now essentially 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’ behaviour in individual cases.
Both sides can still appeal against the judgement to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
UBS will assess the decision and consider whether it will appeal, the bank told the news agency AWP. According to earlier statements, it had already recognised provisions in an “appropriate” amount.
What is your opinion? Join the debate:
External Content
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate change
The international consequences of a glacier-free Switzerland
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
A twin of the Milky Way existed in the young cosmos
This content was published on
A billion years after the Big Bang, there was already a spiral galaxy that resembles the Milky Way, according to the James Webb Space Telescope
Trains resume service to Swiss ski resort Zermatt after heavy snowfall
This content was published on
Zermatt can once again be reached by train starting Saturday afternoon. The Alpine holiday resort was inaccessible by land for some time after heavy snowfall last Thursday.
Authorities urge vigilance after heavy snowfall in southern Switzerland
This content was published on
Vigilance remains the order of the day in the southern canton of Valais, despite a stable situation after heavy snow on Thursday, authorities said on Saturday.
Switzerland won’t be spared drug violence: criminal police head
This content was published on
It is only a matter of time before Switzerland, like other countries in Europe, experiences an escalation in drug-related violence, says the head of the Federal Criminal Police.
Handful of Swiss Easter processions take place after inclement weather
This content was published on
Traditional Good Friday processions continue to take place in some municipalities in Switzerland. In Romont, canton Fribourg, for example, the "Pleureuses" marched through the streets.
Great St. Bernard pass between Switzerland and Italy closed due to avalanche
This content was published on
An avalanche forced the closure of the Great St. Bernard pass between Switzerland and Italy on Thursday. The route remains closed to Easter traffic.
‘Pressure will increase on Switzerland to invest more in defence’
This content was published on
Markus Mäder, Switzerland's state secretary for security policy, believes that more cooperation is needed in order to strengthen defence in Europe.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.