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EU Watchdog Fines ICAP $7.9M For Yen Cartel

By  |  May 30, 2021

EU antitrust regulators fined the world’s largest interdealer broker ICAP €6.45 million (US$7.9 million) for taking part in several yen interest rate derivatives cartels, reported Reuters.

The European Commission had fined ICAP €14.9 million in 2015 but Europe’s second top court in 2017 dismissed part of the regulatory ruling and scrapped the fine, citing flaws in the European Commission’s decision.

The Commission subsequently appealed to the Luxembourg-based EU Court of Justice but lost.

“Today’s decision, correcting the procedural error and including a detailed reasoning on the fine calculation, imposes fines on the three entities of ICAP having participated in the five infringements at the time,” the EU competition enforcer said in a statement.

The Commission’s 2015 ruling stated ICAP rigged the yen LIBOR financial benchmark in several cartels with Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup at various periods.

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