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JOHANNESBURG, June 2 (Reuters) - South Africa’s competition watchdog said on Tuesday it had expanded its long-running rate-rigging case to target other additional lenders, including some of the country’s biggest banks.
The Competition Commission has, following a probe that began in 2015, been seeking fines against 23 local and foreign banks that it alleges colluded to coordinate activities when giving quotes to customers buying or selling the rand and the dollar.
The country’s antitrust tribunal concluded last year that it had no powers to charge foreign banks but declined to throw the case out altogether, asking the commission to submit a new charge sheet.
The commission said in a statement on Tuesday it had done this, and in the process added five new banks to the case, taking the total to 28. These included Nedbank and Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), a unit of one of the country’s other big four lenders, FirstRand.
“These charges will not go away,” said Tembinkosi Bonakele, who heads the commission, adding it was the responsibility of the authorities to pursue the investigation.
“Some of the individual traders involved in the currency manipulation have been dismissed, but their employers - the banks - are yet to be held accountable in South Africa,” he added.
Nedbank’s CEO Mike Brown said in an emailed comment that the lender was reviewing the allegations and would respond in due course, but it remains committed to free and fair markets.
A spokeswoman for RMB did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
