FOOTNOTES
HILARY JOFFE: Gaping holes in exchange-rate banks collusion case dilute white monopoly capital narrative
A big first question will be whether the tribunal has any jurisdiction over banks not represented in SA
When the Competition Commission launched a probe more than two years ago into allegations that foreign-exchange dealers at global and local banks had colluded to fix the rand-dollar exchange rate, it offered a gift to the spinners of what became the "white monopoly capital" narrative. By the time the commission referred a collusion case against 18 banks to the Competition Tribunal earlier in 2017, the narrative was in full swing and Zuma-camp activists were quick to jump on the case as clear evidence that private-sector corruption by the monopoly capitalists was just as bad as anything the public sector was being accused of. That the forex collusion case was a political football at a volatile time should not have been a reason for the commission to hold back, if indeed there were a case. Under the circumstances the commission might have been expected to be even more careful than usual to put together a thoroughly researched, robust case.The exception applications that 14 of the bank...
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