Investec and Standard shoot holes in forex manipulation case
Citibank paid the commission a R70m settlement, while Barclays plc, Barclays Capital and Absa are co-operating to be granted leniency
Investec and Standard Bank have shot holes in the Competition Commission’s collusion case implicating the banks’ currency traders, saying in court filings that the commission had provided no factual evidence to support its allegations. Investec did not even know how to plead since it could not tell, from the commission’s "vague and embarrassing" referral affidavit, what case it was being called upon to meet, group legal adviser Avrom Krengel said in papers. A total of 14 banks referred to the Competition Tribunal for alleged price fixing and market allocation in the trading of foreign currency pairs involving the rand have filed exception applications, published on the commission’s website this week, disputing the referral. The case was referred to the tribunal in February. Citibank paid the commission a R70m settlement, while Barclays plc, Barclays Capital and Absa are co-operating to be granted leniency. "The [commission’s] affidavit makes sweeping statements, covering many years,...
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