S.African tribunal says it can't charge foreign banks in rand-rigging case
12/06/2019 13:19
JOHANNESBURG, June 12 (Reuters) - A South African legal case
over exchange-rate rigging is set to drag on after the
anti-trust tribunal ordered the competition watchdog on
Wednesday to clarify the charges it is seeking, particularly
regarding foreign banks it has no jurisdiction over.
The tribunal also dismissed a request from the banks
involved to have the case dropped altogether.
In a probe that has rumbled on since 2015, the Competition
Commission has been seeking to impose fines on more than a dozen
local and foreign banks that it alleges colluded to coordinate
activities when giving quotes to customers buying or selling
currencies.
The Commission referred its case to the Competition
Tribunal. But the Tribunal said on Wednesday it has sent the
case back, giving the Commission 40 days to clarify the charges,
partly because it has no authority over foreign lenders with no
presence in South Africa.
"The Tribunal, in line with common law precedent, found that
it did not have jurisdiction to issue an order requiring the
foreign banks to pay any administrative penalty as such an order
would not be effective," it said.
It may instead seek an order declaring the conduct of these
foreign banks with no presence in South Africa to be
anti-competitive, without issuing penalties to them.
With regards to foreign banks with a presence in South
Africa, fines will be calculated based on the turnover of the
representative unit in the country, the Tribunal said.
The foreign banks with no presence in South Africa are Bank
of America Merrill Lynch International, JP Morgan Chase & Co,
Australia and New Zealand Bank Ltd, Standard New York Securities
Inc, Nomura International PLC, Macquarie Bank Ltd, HBC Bank USA,
National Association (N.A), Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and
Smith and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.
"The Tribunal found that, in both of these instances, the
Commission would still need to allege that the conduct of the
respondent banks had an effect in South Africa," it said.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
((nqobile.dludla@thomsonreuters.com; +27117753126; Reuters
Messaging: nqobile.dludla.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))