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Bond-rigging probe into big banks racks up £3.7m bill for regulator

The Competition and Markets Authority has spent around 76,000 hours on the investigation

Deutsche Bank and Citigroup admitted wrongdoing, but HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada had not followed suit at the time of the CMA's statement
Deutsche Bank and Citigroup admitted wrongdoing, but HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada had not followed suit at the time of the CMA's statement Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

A probe into whether some of the City's top banks broke competition law on UK government bond sales has cost regulators millions of pounds and taken thousands of staff hours to investigate.

The Competition and Markets Authority has racked up a £3.7m bill and has spent around 76,000 hours on the probe, according to a Freedom of Information Act request from Financial News, in an indication of how seriously the case is being taken by the regulator.

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