On Wednesday 20 December, the General Court of the EU largely dismissed two appeals brought by banks JPMorgan Chase and Crédit Agricole against the Commission’s decision of 7 December 2016 fining them and HSBC a total of €485 million for restricting or distorting competition in the euro-denominated interest rate derivatives sector (see EUROPE 11684/3).
The General Court upheld the Commission’s findings concerning JPMorganChase’s participation in an infringement of competition law (Case T-106/17), but accepted the bank’s arguments relating to the Commission’s insufficient reasoning when determining the amount of the fine. It annulled the amount of the fine imposed by the Commission but, after recalculation, set it at €337,196,000, the amount of the fine initially imposed by the Commission, taking into account factors such as the gravity and duration of the infringement and any mitigating circumstances.
In the case of Crédit Agricole (Case T-113/17), the General Court largely upheld the Commission’s decision, but noted that it was vitiated by the same inadequate statement of reasons as that found in the JPMorgan Chase case. As a result, the amount of the fine against Crédit Agricole has been reduced to €110,000,000 from the initial €114,654,000.
See the two General Court judgments: https://aeur.eu/f/a7c ; https://aeur.eu/f/a7d (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)