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More Thomson Reuters concessions in EU antitrust case
Friday 4 May 2012
Thomson Reuters has offered additional concessions to the European Commission to end an antitrust investigation into its financial data codes. The Commission gave no details but a spokesman said on Friday: "I can confirm we have received new proposals for commitments by Thomson Reuters."
The Commission opened an investigation into Reuters Instrument Codes – which identify stocks, bonds and other financial instruments on systems used by traders around the world – in 2009. It said customers may potentially be locked-in to working with Thomson Reuters because replacing the codes required “a long and costly procedure” to rewrite or reconfigure software applications.
Thomson Reuters said in December it would give licences for customers to use RICs to retrieve data from other suppliers and provide them with information for computer systems to link the codes with those used by competitors. But in a market test conducted by the EU watchdog competitors and trading firms then demanded more.
The company could face a fine up to 10 per cent of its global annual turnover, up to $1.4 billion, if it is found to be flouting Europe’s antitrust laws. ■
- SOURCE
- Reuters
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