EU and the UK
date: 17/05/2019
European Commission fines Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, JPMorgan and MUFG €1.07 billion for participating in foreign exchange spot trading cartel
On 16 May in two settlement decisions, the European Commission fined five banks for taking part in two cartels in the Spot Foreign Exchange market for 11 currencies - Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, US, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian Dollars, and Danish, Swedish and Norwegian crowns. The first decision (so-called “Forex - Three Way Banana Split” cartel) imposes a total fine of €811 197 000 on Barclays, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup and JPMorgan. The second decision (so-called “Forex- Essex Express” cartel) imposes a total fine of €257 682 000 on Barclays, RBS and MUFG Bank (formerly Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi). UBS is an addressee of both decisions, but was not fined as it revealed the existence of the cartels to the Commission.
Fourteen UK municipalities get EU funding for public Wi-Fi hotspots
Fourteen UK municipalities – Angus, Bexley, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Braintree, Coventry, East Northamptonshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Falkirk, Fife, Mid and East Antrim, Stirling, Suffolk Coastal, Wigan, are among the winners in the second call for proposals under the WiFi4EU initiative which aims to improve public access to high-speed wireless internet. Proposals were submitted on 4 to 5 April and the Commission announced the results on 15 May. 3,400 municipalities across the EU, Iceland and Norway, will receive vouchers each worth €15,000 (£13,000) to cover the cost of installing Wi-Fi hotspots in public spaces, including town halls, public libraries, museums, public parks or squares.
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