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The headquarters of Morgan Stanley in New York City, in the Time Square district. AFP

The regulator of the French financial markets criticizes the American bank for manipulating the price of French loans in 2015.

The charges concern a day, that of June 16, 2015, during which Morgan Stanley massively bought French debt futures contracts, which artificially pushed up the price of these sovereign bonds.

For the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, this is a manipulation of prices for which the French Stock Exchange Constable requires a 25 million euro fine. A record amount. Finally, the Council of State chose to lower this sum to 20 million.

The Sanctions Committee found that Morgan Stanley traders resorted to a form of deception or artifice, which had the effect of giving a biased picture of the state of the French loan market.

Double punishment

Morgan Stanley defends itself and claims to have acted in the interests of the market and its customers, and promises to file an appeal. The stakes are high, the bank may lose its status as a state-owned bank, a sesame granted to 15 banks that help France to put its debt on the markets.

►Also read: Morgan Stanley accused of losing 4 billion euros to Italy