The European Commission determined to check the activity of the largest global banks on the default swap market (CDS: financial instruments, insuring investors against failure to pay obligations), BBC News informs. The investigation subjects are Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup banks. The EU antimonopoly investigators suspect the banks of CDS operating through ICE Clear Europe company on special terms, including lowered commission fees. Five other banks suspected are Bank of America, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and UBS. According to BBC News, the agreement between the banks and ICE Clear Europe appeared to be rather unfavourable for clearing companies. The EU authorities will also examine the relationships of the 16 banks with leading financial news provider to CDS markets Markit Group Ltd. The Antimonopoly agency supposes that the 16 banks which are joint owners of Markit Group provide comprehensive information on CDS deals within their company only. As many as 90% of banks engaged in the inter-bank operations’ market fell under suspicion. Apart from the abovementioned banks, there are BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Wells Fargo, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale. The global CDS market is estimated at USD 28 trillion. This instrument is considered to be an effective way to insure the risks of obligations being not paid by the securities’ holders.