Lerato Mbhiza
THE Competition Appeals Court has dismissed the Competition Commission’s rand manipulation case against major South African and foreign banks for colluding and conspiring to manipulate the rand to their own benefit.
The court ruled in favour of South African lenders including Standard Bank Group Ltd, Nedbank Group Ltd, and FirstRand Ltd, and most of the foreign banks who faced the accusations, the Johannesburg-based newspaper reported on Tuesday.
That leaves JPMorgan Chase & Co, BNP Paribas SA, HSBC Holdings Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG and Investec Plc to face trial, according to the report.
The court criticized the case brought by the Competition Commission, saying it was inadequate and lacked evidence, according to the report. It made no order on costs.
The currency-manipulation saga began in May 2015, when the commission alleged that banks colluded to rig the value of the rand against the dollar. The inquiry followed a global probe into currency manipulation that was exposed two years earlier, triggering investigations in the US and the UK, and resulting in billions of dollars in settlements.
South Africa’s antitrust-watchdog revived the case against banks in 2020 after compiling a charge sheet against the more than 20 lenders that allegedly colluded to fix prices and divide markets in the currency pair.
Last year, UK multinational Standard Chartered agreed to settle the case and pay a fine of R42.7 million after the currency collusion report by the commission has charged 28 banks with involvement in a scheme to manipulate the rand-US dollar exchange rate between 2007 and 2013.
Standard Bank, Absa, Investec, Citibank, First Rand Bank, Barclays, Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Nedbank, and Standard Chartered are some of the banks listed.
Standard Bank and Nedbank have denied involvement in the anti-competitive behaviour of fixing the USD/ZAR exchange rate or manipulating the rand’s value.
The Competition Commission said it is studying the judgment. “The Commission is still studying the judgement and will in due course communicate its next course of action,” said spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga.
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