Reduced fine for Credit Suisse in currency cartel case

Reduced fine for Credit Suisse in currency cartel Keystone-SDA

The Court of Justice of the European Union has reduced the fine imposed on Credit Suisse from €83.2 million to €28.9 million, while confirming its involvement in a spot foreign exchange cartel.

While Credit Suisse did indeed take part in the cartel, the Commission did not correctly determine the replacement value of its sales in order to set the amount of the fine for this infringement, explained the Luxembourg-based institution in a statement published on Wednesday. The data used by the Commission were less complete and reliable than those proposed for this purpose by Credit Suisse during the administrative procedure

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The case dates back to the early 2010s. Following an investigation, the European Commission revealed that between 2011 and 2012 certain traders responsible for spot foreign exchange (Forex) operations, working for different banks, had exchanged sensitive information on a professional online discussion forum called Sterling Lads. “These exchanges of information enabled traders to make informed decisions about whether and when to buy or sell these currencies”, the document states.

Through this behaviour, five institutions – Credit Suisse, Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and UBS – “reduced their uncertainty in this sector and thereby distorted free competition”. The Commission has adopted a settlement decision in respect of the four last-mentioned banks that cooperated with it during the investigation, and has granted conditional immunity from fines to UBS. As Credit Suisse did not cooperate, the Commission imposed a fine of €83.2 million.

UBS Group, the successor to Credit Suisse Group, UBS AG, the successor to Credit Suisse AG, and Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd, considered that they had been wronged and challenged the decision. The Court rejected the application for annulment of the Commission’s decision, but annulled part of the contested decision and consequently reduced the amount of the fine.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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