The penalties follow a long-running investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which discovered that individual traders at Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Deutsche Bank had messaged rival bankers about the buying and selling of UK government bonds – known as gilts – on specific dates between 2009 and 2013.
HSBC, Citi and Morgan Stanley among five banks CMA investigated for competition law breaches between 2009-13.
The UK competition regulator has fined four major banks, including HSBC and Citi, more than £100m after it found traders had been using Bloomberg chatrooms to share sensitive information about government bonds.
“The financial services sector is an integral part of the UK economy, contributing billions every year, and it’s essential that it functions effectively,” said Juliette Enser, the CMA’s interim executive director of competition enforcement.
The CMA said the banks had put in place “extensive compliance measures” to avoid similar behaviour by its staff, but it announced a series of fines on Friday.
