Professor Philip Lane:

As discussed earlier, I would not rule that out until we have looked at the evidence. However, there is the alternative explanation of a common culture across the banks and a common economic incentive. If banks thought they were entitled to charge a customer more under a contract, particularly in a period when the banks were under financial pressure, they may have all been in similar circumstances and made similar decisions without a cartel existing.

I am not going to pre-empt any examination but the fact that they had faced common circumstances, a common corporate culture-----