117In the present case, as the General Court held in paragraphs 95 to 97 of the judgment under appeal, the asymmetry of information resulting from the manipulation of 19 March 2007 did not correspond to the normal conditions of the market at issue in that it related to a variable that is essential to competition on the EIRD market, namely the variable rate relevant to determining cash flows on that market. Therefore, that manipulation led to the removal of uncertainties in the mind of the cartel participants as regards the timing, extent and details of the modifications to be adopted by the undertakings concerned in their conduct on the market, to the detriment of their competitors who were not informed of that manipulation. The General Court noted, in that regard, with regard in particular to the HSBC companies, that when the traders negotiated the ‘fixed leg’ of the contracts at issue, they were in a position to do so knowing that the variable rate would be low.
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