(4 June 2018 – Australia) The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is expected to formally file criminal cartel charges this week against ANZ Bank, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
The allegations centre on the banks’ behaviour following the issue of new ANZ shares to institutional investors, when Citi, JPMorgan and Deutsche acted as underwriters and ended up holding almost $800m in ANZ shares.
ANZ, Citi and Deutsche bank have said they will defend the allegations while JPMorgan has been granted immunity in the case.
It is the first criminal cartel action in Australia to focus on conduct in financial markets, in an area of the law regarded as highly technical.
Although the exact allegations are not public nor is the evidence against the banks, ANZ has said it is alleged to have been “knowingly concerned” in cartel conduct when the investment banks reached an “understanding” over how to offload the ANZ shares after the raising.