In a ruling handed down on Wednesday 23 July (Case T-84/22), the General Court of the European Union reduced the fine that the European Commission had imposed on Credit Suisse (see EUROPE 12845/26) at the end of 2021 for participating in a cartel in the European spot foreign exchange (FOREX) sector involving eleven currencies, from €83.2 to €28.9 million.
The UBS Group, which took over Credit Suisse in May 2023 (see EUROPE 13189/14), believes it has been wronged and is challenging the Commission’s decision before the General Court.
In its ruling, the General Court found that the Commission’s decision concerning Credit Suisse’s involvement in the anti-competitive cartel through which traders from five banks exchanged sensitive information on the exchange rates of the currencies concerned was well-founded. The EU institution rightly considered that the exchanges of information concerned gave rise to the conclusion that there were concerted practices of an anti-competitive nature within the meaning of Article 101 TFEU.
However, the European court partially annulled the contested decision. In its view, the applicants rightly argued that certain data used by the Commission to determine the replacement value of Credit Suisse’s sales were less complete and reliable than those proposed by Credit Suisse. The Commission therefore disregarded the guidelines on the method of setting fines and incorrectly calculated the basic amount of the fine imposed on Credit Suisse. As a result, the fine has been reduced to €28.9 million.
See the General Court’s judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/hz0 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)