New Antitrust Enforcement Efforts Targeting Financial Firm Collusion

Justice Department antitrust authorities are taking a hard look at Wall Street and potential collusion in the financial industry, and firms need to sharpen their compliance efforts accordingly, in part by rethinking the way their trading desks gather information and make markets, writes John Terzaken of Allen & Overy in Washington, D.C. In addition to looking into possible bid-rigging in the municipal bond market and anti-competitive dealing in credit-default swaps, DOJ is investigating manipulation of benchmark rates – in particular London’s Libor interbank offered rate. DOJ has also announced a criminal investigation into suspected manipulation of foreign exchange rates and a preliminary investigation into possible price fixing in the metals storage business. The writer, who is a former head of DOJ antitrust enforcement, says that we are witnessing the beginning of a new era in antitrust enforcement.