UK government bonds: suspected anti-competitive arrangements
The CMA has issued five separate infringement decisions under the Competition Act 1998 after investigating suspected anti-competitive arrangements in relation to UK government bonds.
Case timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 21 February 2025 | Infringement decisions issued to the parties and post-SO settlement announced |
| May 2023 | Statement of objections issued to the parties and pre-SO settlement announced |
| April 2022 to Spring 2023 | Investigation continuing |
| January 2021 to March 2022 | Investigation continuing, including further gathering and analysis of information and evidence |
| August 2019 to December 2020 | Initial investigation continuing, including review and analysis of information gathered |
| November 2018 to August 2019 | Initial investigation: information gathering, including issue of formal or informal information requests and responses |
| November 2018 | Investigation opened |
Infringement decisions and settlement
On 21 February 2025, the CMA issued five separate infringement decisions finding that 5 pairs of banks broke competition law by unlawfully sharing competitively sensitive information, and imposed fines totalling over £100 million.
The unlawful exchanges occurred in separate online Bloomberg chatrooms between individual traders at 2 banks at a time on various dates between 2009 to 2013.
The decisions are addressed (in alphabetical order) to: Citigroup Global Markets Limited and its ultimate parent company Citigroup Inc. (together ‘Citi’), Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (‘Deutsche Bank’), HSBC Bank Plc and its ultimate parent company HSBC Holdings Plc (together ‘HSBC’), Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc and its ultimate parent company, Morgan Stanley (together ‘Morgan Stanley’) and RBC Europe Limited and its ultimate parent company Royal Bank of Canada (together ‘Royal Bank of Canada’).
Four banks – Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada – have settled and agreed to pay fines totalling £104,460,000:
- Citi: £17,160,000 – this includes a 35% leniency discount and a 20% reduction for settling in advance of the CMA issuing the Statement of Objections
- HSBC: £23,400,000 – this includes a 10% reduction for settling after the CMA issued the Statement of Objections
- Morgan Stanley: £29,700,000 – this includes a 10% reduction for settling after the CMA issued the Statement of Objections
- Royal Bank of Canada: £34,200,000 – this includes a 10% reduction for settling after the CMA issued the Statement of Objections
Deutsche Bank alerted the CMA to its participation in the unlawful conduct under the CMA’s leniency policy and benefits from immunity from any fine.
- Press release: CMA reaches settlement with banks in competition case (21.2.25)
Statement of objections
On 24 May 2023, the CMA issued a statement of objections provisionally finding that 5 major banks - Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada – broke competition law by each unlawfully sharing competitively sensitive information through one or more series of one-to-one conversations in chatrooms. The alleged conduct concerned the buying and selling of UK government bonds - specifically gilts and gilt asset swaps. These one-to-one conversations took place at varying times between 2009 and 2013.
The statement of objections is addressed to Citigroup Global Markets Limited and its ultimate parent company Citigroup Inc. (together ‘Citi’), Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (‘Deutsche Bank’), HSBC Bank Plc and its ultimate parent company HSBC Holdings Plc (together ‘HSBC’), Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc and its ultimate parent company, Morgan Stanley (together ‘Morgan Stanley’) and RBC Europe Limited and its ultimate parent company Royal Bank of Canada (together ‘Royal Bank of Canada’).
Deutsche Bank alerted the CMA to its participation in the alleged unlawful behaviour under the CMA’s leniency policy, and Citi applied for leniency during the CMA’s investigation. Both banks have admitted their involvement in anti-competitive activity and providing they continue to cooperate and comply with the conditions of leniency, Deutsche Bank will not be fined and any fine that Citi receives will be discounted.
Citi has also entered into a settlement agreement with the CMA and providing it complies with the terms of settlement, will receive a further discount to any fine imposed.
HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada have not admitted any wrongdoing.
The CMA’s findings are provisional. Parties have the opportunity to make representations on the matters set out in the statement of objections. At this stage, no assumption should be made that the banks have broken the law.
Case information
On 13 November 2018, the CMA launched an investigation into suspected anti-competitive arrangements in the financial services sector which may infringe the Chapter I prohibition of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) and/or Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Following the end of the EU Exit Transition Period, the CMA’s investigation continues into suspected anti-competitive arrangements which may infringe the Chapter I prohibition of the CA98.
The CMA and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have concurrent functions to enforce competition law infringements in the financial services sector. It has been agreed (pursuant to regulation 4 of the Competition Act 1998 (Concurrency) Regulations 2014) that the CMA will exercise those functions in relation to this investigation.
The investigation is ongoing and no assumption should be made at this point that competition law has been infringed. The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any of the parties under investigation. Not all cases result in the CMA issuing a statement of objections. Further detail of the CMA’s procedures in CA98 cases is available in our guidance.
As a result, it would not be appropriate to include any further estimates of the timing of any later investigative steps at this stage.
Personal data
The CMA may collect, use and share personal data for its investigations, including investigations under the Competition Act 1998. This includes processing personal data for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
You can find more information about how the CMA handles personal information in the CMA’s Personal Information Charter.
Contacts
Media enquiries
020 3738 6460, press@cma.gov.uk
Senior Responsible Officer
Juliette Enser (020 3738 6857, juliette.enser@cma.gov.uk)
Project Director
Tamara Todorovic (020 3738 6598, tamara.todorovic@cma.gov.uk)
Assistant Project Directors
Kate Houston (020 3738 6482, kate.houston@cma.gov.uk)
Nicholas Scola (02037386931, nicholas.scola@cma.gov.uk)
Updates to this page
Published 16 November 2018Last updated 21 February 2025 + show all updates
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Infringement decisions and settlement announced.
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Statement of objections published
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Update to case timetable published.
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Case timetable update published to the page.
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Case timetable update published.
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New case timetable entry and update to reflect the end of the EU Exit Transition Period.
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Case timetable, Senior Responsible Officer and Assistant Director updated.
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Case timetable updated.
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First published.