The judgment of the European Union Court, made public on March 26, 2025, confirms the sanctions Antitrustust imposed on Unicredit and other large European banks for a sign on government bonds. The infringement dates back to the period 2007-2011, in the middle of the financial crisisand involves total fines for about 363 million euros.
Seven investment institutions involved, including Bank of America, Natixis and Portigon. The accusations: exchange of confidential information and collusive practices between traders to obtain competitive advantages on emissions and negotiations. The Court granted slight reductions in Unicredit (from 69.4 to 65 million) and to Nomura (from 129.5 to 125.6 million), instead confirming the full penalty of 172.3 million for Ubs.
State security case: confirmed penalties
The affair was born from an investigation by the European Commission’s Antitrustust, which in 2021 had fined the main banks involved for a total of 371 million euros. The investigation concerned illegal activities conduct Between 2007 and 2011in full global financial crisis, by a small group of traders active in the primary and secondary market of government bonds in euros.
The EU court substantially confirmed the Commission line, recognizing the “particular gravity” of the behavior and direct responsibility of the institutions involved. The only changes concern the temporal calculation of participation in the sign: Unicredit has obtained a discount of 4.4 million, while Nomin He recovered about 3.9.
The fines, confirmed and magazines, are:
- at UBS 172.3 million euros (unchanged);
- 125.6 million (129.5 million);
- A Unicredit: 65 million (from 69.4 million).
How the cartel operated
According to the Commission and the Court, the traders involved acted in “a restricted circle of trusted people” and regularly exchanged sensitive information through the chats of the Bloomberg terminal. They shared prices, volumes and strategies for influence auctions of the Member States, altering both the primary market (emissions) and the secondary one (negotiation of securities).
These practices, the Court underlined, seriously undermine competition in a crucial sector, all the more in a moment – that of the financial crisis – in which the states were forced to resort to public funds To save the same financial institutions involved in the cartel.
Unicredit evaluates the appeal
After the sentence, Unicredit said he did not share the court judgment and made it known that he is evaluating a possible Appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Ubs also said he was in the analysis of the decision, without excluding future actions.
The Court reiterated that, given the severity of the practices and the responsibility of the institutes, it was not even necessary to demonstrate the concrete effects on the market, just enough the existence of the intended to justify the sanctions.
