UniCredit Faces Potential Antitrust Fine

   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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2019 10:10 ET (14:10 GMT)

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