Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan & Other Investment Banks Face European Union Antitrust Probe (GS, JPM)

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, and other investment banks face a European Union antitrust probe into credit-default swaps (CDS) and sovereign debt, the European Commission said Friday. According to a Bloomberg report, "The European Commission said it opened two antitrust investigations into the CDS market. It will check whether 16 bank dealers colluded by giving market information to Markit, a financial information provider, the commission said today in a statement." The new investigation continues a recent trend of scrutinizing global investment banks after the financial crisis. Several have been accused of improper dealings with clients, lacking fiscal responsibility, or violations of securities rules. The Bloomberg report notes that "The regulator also will examine whether nine of those dealers struck deals with ICE Clear Europe, a clearing house for derivatives, that block other clearing houses from entering the market and give CDS players “no real choice where to clear their transactions,” the commission said." Shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase both fell in after-hours trade Thursday, to $150.60 and $45.85, respectively.