UniCredit Faces Potential Antitrust Fine
April 11 2019 - 10:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Pietro Lombardi
Italy's UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) may face a potential fine of up
to 10% of its annual turnover in relation to an investigation by
European authorities into suspected collusion in trading European
government bonds between 2007 and 2012.
The Italian bank said late Wednesday that in January it had
received a statement of objections from the European Commission
related to the investigation.
Having assessed the documents of the commission, "the bank
regards it no longer remote but possible, even though not likely,
that a cash outflow might be required to fulfill a potential fine
arising from the outcome of the investigation," it said.
The investigation "includes alleged activities by one of
UniCredit's subsidiaries in a part of this period," it said.
At the moment, it isn't possible to give estimates of the
potential fine, it added, noting that a fine could reach up to 10%
of its annual turnover.
This is "potentially meaningful but appears manageable,"
Jefferies analysts said. The U.S. bank estimates an upper limit of
roughly 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) for a potential fine.
The Italian bank has a deadline of April 29 to submit its
response to the objections.
In January, the European Commission accused eight banks of
running a cartel in trading European government bonds between 2007
and 2012.
"Traders employed by the banks exchanged commercially sensitive
information and coordinated on trading strategies," it said at the
time, without mentioning the name of the banks involved.
Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2019 10:10 ET (14:10 GMT)
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