JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay 72.2 million euros ($92 million) in fines to European Union regulators for influencing derivatives and spreads linked to Libor rates and Swiss francs, the EU said Tuesday.
UBS was fined 12.7 million euros ($16.2 million) by the EU, and Credit Suisse Group must pay 9.2 million euros ($11.7 million), for colluding with JPMorgan to fix bid-ask spreads for derivatives linked to the Swiss franc benchmark lending rate, the European Commission said in an e-mail. Royal Bank of Scotland Group escaped fines in the two antitrust cases because it blew the whistle on the cartels.
"Cartels in the financial sector, whatever form they take, will not be tolerated," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in the email.
The penalties are the latest EU fines in the global scandal over rate rigging. Deutsche Bank and five other financial firms faced a record 1.7 billion-euro fine in December for colluding over derivatives linked to the London and euro interbank offered rates. The EU is also investigating whether banks rigged foreign-exchange rates.
The banks received reduced fines because they agreed to settle with regulators. UBS and JPMorgan also got bigger cuts for aiding the investigations, the EU said.
Today's fines add to worldwide penalties of more than $6 billion for banks accused of manipulating benchmark rates.
The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, and Euribor, the Euro Interbank Offered Rate, gauge banks' estimated cost of borrowing over different periods of time. Libor is the benchmark interest rate for more than $300 trillion of securities.
Regulators across the world have been examining suspected manipulation of Swiss franc Libor rates. The Swiss Competition Commission granted UBS conditional immunity in connection with some potential violations related to Swiss franc Libor, according to a company filing.
