{
  "id": 19471681,
  "title": "FTC to fine 15 firms $1.2 bil. for rigging gov't bond bids",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/11/ftc-to-fine-15-firms-1-2-bil-for-rigging-govt-bond-bids",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-11T09:12:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/banking-finance/20261111/ftc-to-fine-15-firms-12-bil-for-rigging-govt-bond-bids"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) of Korea has imposed a record-breaking fine of 1.62 trillion won ($1.2 billion) on 15 financial firms for colluding in government bond auctions over a three-year period. The companies, which include 10 brokerage houses and five banks, were found to have exchanged information on bidding yields and volumes through phone calls and messaging apps during 150 auctions between January 2020 and June 2023. The FTC's investigation revealed that in 145 of these auctions, the companies went beyond exchanging information to reach agreements on specific bidding yields or volumes, constituting bid rigging. This is the largest fine ever imposed by the FTC in a single case, surpassing the previous record of 1.03 trillion won levied on Qualcomm for unfair practices in 2016.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}