Cases T-386/21 and T-406/21: Judgment of the General Court of 6 November 2024 – Crédit agricole and Others v Commission (Suprasovereign, sovereign and agency bonds) (Competition – Agreements, decisions and concerted practices – Suprasovereign bond, sovereign bond and agency bond sector denominated in United States dollars – Decision finding an infringement of Article 101 TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement – Coordination of prices and bond-trading activity – Exchanges of commercially sensitive information – Single and continuous infringement – Restriction of competition by object – Calculation of the amount of the fine – Basic amount – Proxy for the value of sales – Action for annulment – Unlimited jurisdiction)
Date: 2024-11-06
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU competition policy, European Economic Area, bank, bond, cartel, control of restrictive practices, exchange of information, price agreement, sanction (EU), trade information








C_202500262EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/262


20.1.2025






Judgment of the General Court of 6 November 2024 – Crédit agricole and Others v Commission (Suprasovereign, sovereign and agency bonds)


(Cases T-386/21 and T-406/21)
                (1)

(Competition - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Suprasovereign bond, sovereign bond and agency bond sector denominated in United States dollars - Decision finding an infringement of Article 101 TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement - Coordination of prices and bond-trading activity - Exchanges of commercially sensitive information - Single and continuous infringement - Restriction of competition by object - Calculation of the amount of the fine - Basic amount - Proxy for the value of sales - Action for annulment - Unlimited jurisdiction)
(C/2025/262)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicants in Case T-386/21: Crédit agricole SA (Montrouge, France), Crédit agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (Montrouge) (represented by: D. Beard, Barrister-at-Law, C. Hutton, C. Peacock and J. Parkinson, Solicitors)

Applicants in Case T-406/21: UBS Group AG the successor in law to Credit Suisse Group AG (Zurich, Switzerland), Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: R. Wesseling, F. ten Have and F. Brouwer, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented in Case T-386/21 by T. Franchoo, M. Farley and B. Cullen, acting as Agents, and in Case T-406/21 by A. Boitos, M. Farley, T. Franchoo and C. Vang, acting as Agents)

Re:

By their action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants in Case T-386/21 seek, first, annulment of Commission Decision C(2021) 2871 final of 28 April 2021 relating to a proceeding under Article 101 TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case AT.40346 – SSA Bonds) (‘the contested decision’), in so far as it concerns them, and, secondly, the reduction of the amount of the fine imposed on them in that decision.
By their action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants in Case T-406/21 seek, in essence, annulment of the contested decision in so far as it concerns them.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Joins Cases T-386/21 and T-406/21 for the purposes of the judgment;










2.


In Case T-386/21:






—


annuls Article 1(c) of Commission Decision C(2021) 2871 final of 28 April 2021 relating to a proceeding under Article 101 TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case AT.40346 – SSA Bonds) in so far as it finds that Crédit agricole SA and Crédit agricole Corporate and Investment Bank participated in the infringement from 10 January 2013 to 24 March 2015, and not from 11 January 2013 to 24 March 2015;










—


annuls Article 2(c) of Decision C(2021) 2871 final in so far as it fixes the amount of the fine for which Crédit agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Crédit agricole are jointly and severally liable at EUR 3 993 000;










—


fixes the amount of the fine imposed on Crédit agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Crédit agricole in Article 2(c) of Decision C(2021) 2871 final at EUR 3 993 000;










—


dismisses the action as to the remainder;










—


orders Crédit agricole and Crédit agricole Corporate and Investment Bank to pay the costs.














3.


In Case T-406/21:






—


dismisses the action;










—


orders UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd to pay the costs.










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            OJ C 338, 23.8.2021.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/262/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)