South Africa’s competition watchdog, the Competition Commission, said today it had filed new charges with the Competition Tribunal against more than 20 banks it has accused of rigging the rand from 2007 to 2013.
Competition Commission boss, Tembinkosi Bonakele, said the new referral follows the ruling by the Competition Commission in February this year which dismissed the banks’ appeal to have the charges laid against them dismissed.
“The banks must file their answers to these charges, which have now been further substantiated. These charges will not go away. Some of the individual traders involved in the currency manipulation have been dismissed, but their employers – the banks, are yet to be held accountable in South Africa. It is the responsibility of the South African authorities to get to the bottom of these serious allegations about the manipulation of our currency, wherever it occurred” said Bonakele.
The commission is a statutory body that investigates uncompetitive behaviour, while the tribunal adjudicates cases and hears appeals.
In 2017, the commission recommended the prosecution of nearly 20 top local and international banks for collusion in the trading of foreign currency.
The banks on the Commission’s sight include Standard Bank, FirstRand, Nedbank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch International, BNP Paribas and Investec.
