EU: New dawn raids ramp up oil-rigging probe

Just days after the European Commission announced that it had revived its investigation of allegations of oil benchmark-rigging, reports say the watchdog has probed a new company.

Sweden-based ethanol producer Lantmaennen Agroetanol was raided by the Commission as part of the case, reports say. The company issued a statement confirming the searches, which it said took place on October 7.

In the same statement, Lantmaennen said it “isn’t aware of anything illegal having occurred or if any employee has acted inappropriately.” The company said it is fully cooperating with the investigation.

According to reports, the Swedish firm has been critical of industry benchmark publisher Platts, which was also raided as part of earlier searches in the case. BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil were also searched, along with others, on suspicion that the companies colluded to manipulate the benchmark that sets the price of oil.

Full content: Bloomberg

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