SYDNEY: A four-word handwritten note by a JPMorgan Chase & Co banker has been seized by Australian prosecutors as fundamental to a criminal cartel prosecution against Citigroup Inc and Deutsche Bank AG , a court heard on Friday.
Prosecutors say the note"seems to have been corroborated by what happened in the market," Giles added. The case, brought by antitrust regulator the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission , is being closely watched by investment bankers around the world because it could influence how they are allowed to conduct joint capital raisings.JPMorgan and several of its staff and ex-staff, including Bainbridge, have agreed to act as prosecution witnesses in exchange for immunity, the court has previously heard.
A day earlier, another JPMorgan witness who was on the calls, the bank's local markets head Jeff Herbert-Smith, told the court the banks had not colluded on the capital raising, and that he was surprised when he was approached by the ACCC.