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(Adds HSBC comment, TV)
By Foo Yun Chee
LUXEMBOURG, Sept 24 (Reuters) - HSBC got partial
satisfaction on Tuesday in its fight against a 33.6 million euro
($37 million) fine levied by EU antitrust regulators three years
ago for rigging the Euribor financial benchmark together with
six other banks.
The General Court, Europe's second highest court, agreed
with the EU's competition watchdog that HSBC infringed the law
but annulled the fine over insufficient reasoning.
HSBC, Credit Agricole and JPMorgan were
fined 485 million euros by the European Commission in 2016. All
three had denied wrongdoing and challenged the decision. HSBC's
fine was the smallest as it took part in the cartel for just a
month.
"We're pleased that the Court has annulled the fine. We have
consistently disputed that our actions constituted
anti-competitive behaviour and are considering all aspects of
the ruling and our legal options," HSBC said in a statement.
The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, has said
the trio were part of a seven-bank cartel that colluded between
September 2005 and May 2008 to manipulate the Euribor interest
rate, which is set using quotes from a panel of banks and is
widely used in international money markets.
The Commission said traders at the banks exchanged
information on their trading positions and pricing strategies
via chatrooms or messaging services.
The other three - Deutsche Bank, RBS and
Societe Generale - admitted wrongdoing three years ago
in return for lower fines. Barclays escaped a fine
because it alerted the cartel to the Commission.
The case is T-105/17 HSBC Holdings v Commission.
($1 = 0.9116 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Gabriela Baczynska and
Susan Fenton)
