The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has imposed fines exceeding £100 million on four major banks—HSBC, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)—after discovering that traders had shared confidential information about UK government bonds via Bloomberg chatrooms.

Following a prolonged investigation, the CMA determined that individual traders from Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, RBC, and Deutsche Bank had exchanged details about gilt transactions between 2009 and 2013. While the banks have since introduced “extensive compliance measures” to prevent similar misconduct, the CMA announced fines on Friday. RBC received the highest penalty (£34.2m), followed by Morgan Stanley (£29.7m), HSBC (£23.4m), and Citi (£17.2m).

Deutsche Bank escaped fines after voluntarily disclosing the issue, while Citi’s penalty was reduced by over 50% due to early cooperation in the investigation. The banks are required to pay their fines by April 22.

Juliette Enser, the CMA’s interim executive director of competition enforcement, underscored the importance of maintaining fair and competitive financial markets. She noted that while the penalties could have been much steeper, the banks had already taken significant corrective measures.

HSBC expressed satisfaction in closing the matter, stating that the concerns involved a limited number of historical communications with Deutsche Bank from 2009-10. The bank emphasized that it had since overhauled its compliance framework, a fact acknowledged by the CMA.

Morgan Stanley described its settlement as a commercial decision, clarifying that the case pertained to a single former employee’s actions from 15 years ago and had no proven market impact or financial gain for the firm. The bank highlighted industry-wide improvements in oversight and compliance.

Deutsche Bank noted that it had proactively reported the misconduct and fully cooperated with the investigation, which covered activities prior to 2014.

Citi stated it was pleased to resolve the longstanding issue, according to Reuters.

RBC emphasized that the misconduct was historical and that its compliance measures had significantly strengthened over the past decade. The bank reiterated its zero-tolerance policy for misconduct and confirmed that the two employees involved were no longer with the company.