Cleary Gottlieb has been representing Citigroup in an ongoing investigation by the European Commission, which today announced its decision to close antitrust proceedings against our client and others involved in its investigation into the credit default swaps (CDS) market. The Commission was investigating whether 13 banks (including Citigroup), and ISDA and Markit, two financial-related organizations, colluded to prevent the development of a CDS exchange-trading platform between 2006 and 2009.
After an exhaustive analysis of all information received from the parties in their written responses and during a 2014 oral hearing, the Commission found insufficient evidence to continue its investigation vis-a-vis the banks.