Recommendation 8

In May 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally found that five major banks broke competition laws on UK gilts. Each bank allegedly unlawfully shared competitively sensitive information relating to the buying and selling of UK government gilts. The alleged behaviour, which was identified by the CMA and potentially impacted the DMO’s gilt auctions, took place at varying times between 2009 and 2013. We asked the DMO how it ensured that buyers were not co-operating behind the scenes to manipulate its auctions and thereby disadvantage taxpayers. The DMO, which sells gilts directly to its primary dealers via bids it receives during auctions, explained that all its primary dealers, known as Gilt-edged Money Makers (GEMMs), were regulated organisations and manipulation and collusion was “illegal and against the law”.13