On Feb 21, the UK's competition regulator imposed a fine of 104.5 million pounds ($132.4 million) on four global banks for sharing sensitive information regarding UK government bonds during the period of 2009 to 2013. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced settlements with Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and Royal Bank of Canada. Earlier, in May 2023, the watchdog implicated these four banks and Deutsche Bank for their involvement. Deutsche Bank, along with Citi, admitted to anti-competitive behavior and was exempt from the fine.
The investigation revealed that traders from these banks exchanged sensitive information about the pricing of UK bonds, known as gilts, in Bloomberg chatrooms after the global financial crisis.
Requests for comments from the five banks remained unanswered at the time of reporting. ($1 = 0.7891 pounds)