Rabobank has been fined €26.6 million by the European Commission for making secret agreements with Deutsche Bank about the trade in state bonds. The two banks exchanged secret information and agreed prices between them, in defiance of European competition rules, the commission said.

Deutsche Bank escaped a fine of €156 million because it “cooperated with the commission under the leniency programme and therefore received full immunity from fines for revealing the cartel,” the commission statement said.

The illegal trading took place between 2006 and 2016 with traders in Frankfurt and London exchanging information via email and chatrooms covering prices and volumes, as well as current and future trading strategies and positions and the identity of counter-parties.

Rabobank said it is “disappointed in the fine” and is considering an appeal to the European court, adding that it had “cooperated throughout the investigation”.

Rabobank was earlier fined €774 million in an out of court settlement for manipulating international interest rates in what became known as the Libor scandal.