Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) said yesterday it had fined the world's largest bank Citigroup £13.96 million for a controversial multibillion-euro bond trade last year.
The FSA said Citigroup had failed to conduct its business with "due skill, care and diligence" when it disrupted European government bond markets on August 2nd last year.
The fine is the second-largest levied by the FSA but is small in comparison to the $17 billion net income generated by Citigroup last year.
The ruling by Europe's most powerful financial industry regulator also effectively draws a line under an episode which Citigroup admits has damaged its reputation and affected its business.
And Citigroup was not accused by the FSA of the more damaging charge of market manipulation.
On August 2nd, Citigroup sold €12.9 billion of cash bonds in one minute and bought back €3.8 billion of the paper within an hour on a day when the US market was closed. - (Reuters)
