Competition Commission set to defend its powers to prosecute banks accused of manipulating the rand
A total of 28 local and international financial institutions, including Nedbank, Standard Bank and FirstRand, were accused by the commission of rigging the rand between 2007 and 2013.
The Constitutional Court. Picture: Kgomotso Modise/EWN
JOHANNESBURG - The Competition Commission will on Tuesday defend its powers to prosecute banks accused of manipulating the rand, as a four-day hearing gets underway at the Constitutional Court.
A total of 28 local and international financial institutions, including Nedbank, Standard Bank and FirstRand, were accused by the commission of rigging the rand between 2007 and 2013.
The watchdog said the banks colluded in a private online chatroom to fix rand-dollar trades.
Last year, the competition appeal court threw out the case against most of the banks, leaving only four for the commission to pursue.
ALSO READ: SA's major banks to appear before Parly on credit lending practices
It ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence and that South African authorities lacked jurisdiction over the implicated foreign banks.
The commission is back at the apex court seeking to widen the net, arguing that 13 international banks can be held accountable because their actions impacted the rand and the local economy.
Two of the four banks that remain in the dock are also appealing to have their names cleared, setting the stage for a complex legal battle over the next four days.