HSBC, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will pay a combined £104 million in fines after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found they had exchanged sensitive information on government bonds. The violations took place between 2009 and 2013 through private Bloomberg chatrooms, where traders from the four banks and Deutsche Bank discussed details related to gilt auctions, asset swaps, and sales to the Bank of England.
Citi will pay £17.16 million, HSBC £23.4 million, Morgan Stanley £29.7 million, and RBC £34.2 million. Each bank received a reduced fine for cooperating with the investigation. Deutsche Bank was granted immunity for reporting the misconduct.
The CMA stated that all banks have since implemented compliance measures to prevent similar breaches. The firms have until April 22, 2025, to pay their fines.
