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The trio colluded to rig the Euribor rate and exchanged sensitive information to suit their trading positions in correlated derivatives markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules, the European Commission said on Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. JPMorgan was fined 337.2 million euros, HSBC got a 33.6 million-euro penalty and Credit Agricole must pay 114.7 million euros.
“The participation in such schemes was very lucrative for the banks,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust commissioner, told journalists in Brussels, adding that it’s very difficult to make an exact estimate of their profits. “Tiny movements of the Euribor rate can have a huge impact given the trading volumes at stake.”
The EU’s investigation into Euribor manipulation was strained three years ago after Credit Agricole, JPMorgan and HSBC refused to join a multi-bank settlement with four other lenders including Deutsche Bank AG and Societe Generale SA. Since then, the holdouts have been a thorn in the commission’s side -- successfully delaying the process and showing up the regulator for its handling of the case.
JPMorgan “did not engage in any wrongdoing with respect to the Euribor benchmark,” Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokeswoman for the bank in London, said in a statement. “We will continue to vigorously defend our position against these allegations, including through possible appeals to the European courts.” [...]