Reuters
Six banks including Bank of America and Citigroup agreed to pay $80 million to settle antitrust litigation in New York accusing them of conspiring to rig prices of European government bonds. A preliminary settlement with Bank of America, Citigroup, Jefferies, NatWest, Nomura and UBS was filed late Friday in Manhattan federal court, and requires a judge's approval. Investors led by three public pension funds accused the banks of having colluded, including in online chatrooms, to bid high prices at bond auctions to ensure a dominant market share, and then to sell the bonds at inflated prices to mutual funds, pension funds, insurers and other investors.