(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc lost a court challenge to a European Union antitrust fine of nearly €32 million ($33.6 million) for illegally rigging the Euribor benchmark.
The EU General Court tossed the bank’s appeal and backed the European Commission’s findings that it had illegally participated in a cartel.
“The General Court dismisses HSBC’s action,” the EU tribunal ruled. Wednesday’s decision can be appealed to the bloc’s top court, the European Court of Justice. HSBC declined to comment.
The judgment is the latest round in a series of challenges to the EU’s findings in the Euribor case. The ruling centers on a rehashed fine slapped on HSBC in 2021 after EU judges toppled the initial 2016 penalty of nearly €34 million on procedural grounds.
The commission at the time fined HSBC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Agricole SA a total of €485.5 million for colluding and exchanging sensitive information. They’d all snubbed a €824.6 million settlement that four other banks including Deutsche Bank AG reached with the EU.
Euribor, the euro interbank offered rate, is a measure of banks’ estimated cost of borrowing over different periods of time. It’s one of the key benchmarks used to calculate interest payments for trillions of euros worth of financial products including mortgages.
The case is T-561/21 HSBC Holdings and Others v Commission.
(Updates with bank response in third paragraph)
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