Cabinet will back the Competition Commission’s investigation into rand manipulation, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Thursday.
The announcement comes after the competition authorities recently disclosed that the British multinational Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) admitted liability in the currency manipulation case and agreed to pay a R42 million fine.
The SCB is one of 28 banks, locally and overseas, currently being investigated for allegations of manipulating the value of the rand exchange rate between 2007 and 2013. The probe includes fixing bids, bid-offer spreads, the spot exchange rate, and the exchange rate.
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“Cabinet received a briefing from the Competition Commission and National Treasury on the case of the ZAR/USD currency exchange rate collusion.
“In particular, the Competition Commission provided an update on the cases currently before courts, as well as concluded settlements with Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank,” Ntshavheni confirmed.
The Minister was addressing media on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held the previous day. She reiterated Cabinet’s support of the work which the Competition Commission is doing in this case.
“Noting actions in other jurisdictions on the cases involving the ZAR/USD currency trading collusion, Cabinet urges respondent banks currently facing prosecution in our courts to cooperate with local authorities as they did with our foreign counterparts,” she said.
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