Bank of America Corp and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc have been sued by investors in the United States over their alleged roles in a conspiracy among eight banks to rig prices in the $9.4 trillion European government bond market. The proposed class-action complaint accusing the banks of violating federal antitrust law was filed on Monday night in US District Court in New Haven, Connecticut.
It followed a January 31 announcement by the European Union's antitrust authority accusing the eight banks of being part of a cartel to distort bond prices from 2007 to 2012. In a "Statement of Objections," the European Commission said it believed bond traders may have illegally shared commercially sensitive information and coordinated trading strategies, mainly through online chatrooms. While the commission did not identify the eight banks, media reports said Bank of America and RBS are among them.