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Antitrust: Commission sends statement of objections to 13 investment banks, ISDA and Markit in credit default swaps investigation

EU News 315/2013

IP/13/630
Brussels, 1 July 2013

The European Commission has informed some of the world's largest investment banks of its preliminary conclusion that they infringed EU antitrust rules that prohibit anti-competitive agreements by colluding to prevent exchanges from entering the credit derivatives business between 2006 and 2009. The sending of a statement of objections does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.

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The statement of objections is addressed to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS as well as the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and data service provider Markit.

Between 2006 and 2009, Deutsche Börse and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange tried to enter the credit derivatives business. The exchanges turned to ISDA and Markit to obtain necessary licenses for data and index benchmarks, but, according to the preliminary findings of the Commission, the banks controlling these bodies instructed them to license only for "over-the-counter" (OTC) trading purposes and not for exchange trading. Several of the investment banks also sought to shut out exchanges in other ways, for example by coordinating the choice of their preferred clearing house.

Source and additional information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-630_en.htm?locale=en 

Joaquín Almunia Date: 01/07/2013 Reference: P-023644/00-08 (C)EU, 2013 URL