BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission will make an assessment of banks it banned from EU Recovery Fund bond issuance very soon, which could see lenders re-admitted to the process, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.
The European Union has excluded some of the biggest investment banks with past involvement in breaches of antitrust rules from syndicated debt sales backing its up to 800 billion euro ($969 billion) COVID-19 recovery fund.
According to sources familiar with the ban, the banks were aware of the situation and a number of banks have submitted information to steps taken to address the issues and alleviate the EU Commission’s concerns.
The rest are expected to follow soon, the sources said, adding that remedial action taken by the banks could include staff training courses that would help avoid price fixing.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, writing by Dhara Ranasinghe, editing by Karin Strohecker)
