»»  europe

EU SAYS BANKS BLOCKED COMPETITION IN DERIVATIVES MARKET (0 comments)

The world's biggest investment banks colluded to stop competition in a profitable derivatives business according to EU authorities.

 

Between 2006 and 2009 Deutsche Borse and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange tried to enter the credit derivatives business, but were denied licences to offer trading in the products.

EU competition officials say that big banks were behind that refusal. If the exchanges had been successful, banks may have lost out on business.

The report focuses on one particular financial product, the credit default swap (CDS), which is dominated by "over-the-counter" trading - trading provided directly by the big banks, instead of via a financial exchange