AMSTERDAM- The European Union has excluded some of the biggest investment banks with past involvement in breaches of antitrust rules from syndicated debt sales backing its up to 800 billion euro ($969 billion) COVID-19 recovery fund, the EU executive said on Tuesday.

"The Commission will be undertaking a careful assessment of whether the primary dealers found guilty of breaching anti-trust rules have taken necessary remedial measures to terminate these practices and are ready to undertake to take steps to avoid their recurrence," the European Commission said in a statement to Reuters.

(Reporting by Yoruk Bachceli and Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by Rachel Armstrong) ((Dhara.Ranasinghe@thomsonreuters.com; +442075422684;))