Banks reach $86M bond rigging settlement in Manhattan

Mexican subsidiaries of six major global banks have agreed to pay $86.4 million to settle claims they rigged the market for Mexican government bonds. The preliminary settlement, filed in Manhattan federal court, closes out an antitrust lawsuit that dragged on for more than eight years. The banks involved include some of the biggest names in global finance: Bank of America, Banco Santander, BBVA, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC. None admitted wrongdoing. A decade-long alleged conspiracy The lawsuit, brought by US pension funds and other investors, accused the banks’ Mexican subsidiaries of fixing prices and coordinating allocations of Mexican government bonds, commonly known as MGBs. The alleged collusion ran from January 1, 2006 through April 19, 2017, covering more than 11 years of market activity. Plaintiffs presented evidence that included chatroom transcripts from internal communications among traders at the various banks. The conversations, according to the lawsuit, revealed patterns of coordination among the banks. The banks are accused of suppressing prices when buying MGBs while inflating them during sales. This latest $86.4 million settlement isn’t the first payout in t...