Banks: No proof of rand manipulation

The Competition Competition says the case shows the difficulty of prosecuting global and domestic cartels that exploit legal loopholes

- Nkateko Joseph Mabasa

Banks implicated in rand manipulation argued at the Constitutional Court on Wednesday that the Competition Commission's allegations against them are based on inferences and it has not provided evidence of collusion.

The commission launched a case in 2015 against 28 local and international banks, alleging they colluded to fix the dollar-rand exchange rate.

The case stems from findings by the Competition Commission that traders manipulated bids and offers, and took turns to buy and sell dollars and rands to maintain profit margins.

The commission alleges a single overarching conspiracy from 2007 until at least September 2013, possibly continuing after traders lost access to chat rooms on news and information company Bloomberg's platform that had been used to coordinate trades.

The matter has gone back and forth between the commission, the Competition Tribunal and the Competition Appeal Court since 2017.

In 2023 the Competition Tribunal ruled that the Competition Commission had jurisdiction over foreign banks, but the appeal court dismissed the case against 17 international banks. The Competition Commission then appealed to the Constitutional Court, which must now decide whether it may prosecute foreign firms accused of collusion.

Domestic banks argue the commission lacks sufficient evidence, while foreign banks contend that it has no jurisdiction over them.