Citi, Deutsche Face Cartel Charges in $1.9 Billion Share Sale
- ANZ Bank, underwriters deny wrongdoing in 2015 equity raising
- Case is unprecedented legal foray into Australian underwriting
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Australia’s banking industry faces an unprecedented criminal prosecution as Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and two of its underwriters, Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc., brace for cartel charges over a A$2.5 billion ($1.9 billion) share sale.
The case follows probes by both Australia’s securities regulator and competition watchdog into ANZ Bank’s institutional placement of 80.8 million shares in August 2015. Investigators have focused on why the Melbourne-based lender didn’t disclose that underwriters had to soak up 25.5 million shares worth A$789.2 million and how they subsequently sold them onto the market.