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CDPP withdraws remaining charges in bank criminal cartel case
On 11 February 2022, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) announced that it had withdrawn all charges against Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Limited (Citigroup), Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (Deutsche Bank) and four current or former officers or employees of those corporations in relation to alleged cartel conduct. The charges were dropped following a determination by the CDPP that there were no longer reasonable prospects for success. This follows the CDPP’s decision in October 2021 to drop all charges against ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) and its former group treasurer.
The CDPP’s case against the banks, which was referred to the prosecutor after an investigation by the ACCC, arose out of the ANZ Share Placement in August 2015 for which JP Morgan Australia Pty Limited (JP Morgan), Deutsche Bank and Citigroup were the joint lead managers and underwriters. The underwriters acquired a significant volume of shares in the placement and it was alleged they reached an understanding about the volume of those shares they would sell each day.
JP Morgan was granted civil criminal immunity in May 2016 after requesting a ‘first-in’ marker from the ACCC on 29 August 2015.
Justice Wigney of the Federal Court had previously criticised the CDPP’s…
