Swiss banks stung with CHF237m rates rigging fine

ComCo concludes year-long investigation against banks Keystone-SDA

Twenty Swiss banks have been fined CHF237.5 million by the Competition Commission (ComCo) after a long-running investigation into collusion on the financial market.

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In total, ComCo investigated agreements on the financial market in nine separate proceedings over a period of more than ten years. The investigations focussed on the business areas of interest rate derivatives, spot foreign exchange and precious metals trading.

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Individual traders from competing banks had entered into more than 20 separate, independent agreements between 2005 and 2013.

They would have exchanged sensitive information about their business and strategies via company chat rooms, instant messaging services or by telephone, ComCo said.

Between 2016 and 2024, ComCo has now negotiated a total of 35 amicable settlements in four out of five proceedings on interest rate derivatives and three proceedings on currency exchange rates.

The costs of the proceedings totalled CHF5.33 million.

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Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

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