SAFTU urges ‘heavy fines’ for local banks involved in rand manipulation
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has called on the Competition Commission to impose heavy fines on local banks which may be found to have been involved in currency manipulation.
On Wednesday, the commission announced an agreement with British bank Standard Chartered, which will see it paying a fine of R43 million for colluding with 28 other banks to manipulate the rand-US dollar exchange rate between 2007 and 2013.
According to the watchdog, the traders at the banks communicated on instant messaging platforms to fix bids and offers and engage in other activities that fell foul of competition rules.
The settlement follows a 2017 agreement with Citibank over liability on the same allegations
SAFTU Spokesperson Trevor Shaku says the banks need to be held accountable.
"This is long overdue, given that the commission had lodged this case over seven years ago. This litigation has taken eight years, with these banks playing hide-and-seek and evading being held accountable in South Africa.
"It is especially outrageous for these banks to evade the law in our country when they have already accepted guilt and paid fines in the United States of America and the United Kingdom."
Shaku says the penalty should send a strong message to banks that they are not more powerful than the state.
"SAFTU calls on the Competition Commission to ensure that it penalises all the 28 banks, including imposing heavy fines on local banks that were part.
"Besides, commercial banks are nothing but chartered banks of the central bank and must be shown that whatever illusions they harbour, they are not more powerful than the state.”
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