AP Photo/Mark Lennihan AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Johannesburg – The Competition Tribunal has confirmed Citibank’s
settlement of R69.5 million for its role in the forex cartel.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Tribunal says the
fine does not exceed 10 percent of Citibank’s annual turnover in South Africa.
The fine follows a complaint initiated by the Competition
Commissioner in 2015.
The Tribunal explains the agreement was postponed after a
March 22 hearing as the Tribunal had asked for additional information from the
Competition Commission regarding the percentage of Citibank’s turnover on which
the fine is based.
Citibank
admitted that, between September 2007 and October 2013, Citibank and its
competitors manipulated the price of bids and offers through agreements to
refrain from trading and creating fictitious bids and offers at particular
times, assisted each other by allowing a trader with a large open risk position
to complete his trades first before trading and through
holding and/or pulling their trades to reserve liquidity for each other instead
of trading normally in the market.
Citibank additionally admitted to fixing bids, offers and
bid-offer spreads in relation to spot trades on rand currency pairs through
co-ordination/alignment of the bids, offers, and bid-offer spreads quoted to
customers.
Read also: CitiBank settlement details 'confidential'
In terms
of the settlement agreement Citibank will appear as a witness at their
competitor’s hearings and, according to the Commission, Citibank has already
begun supplying information that is helpful to the Commission’s investigation.
Citibank
also undertakes to not engage in any future conduct in contravention of the
Competition Act and continue its existent implementation
programmes.
Citibank
is the first of the banks reach a settlement agreement with the Commission in
the complaint the Competition Commission v Bank of America Merrill
Lynch and seventeen others lodged with the Tribunal.
Barclays Africa has been conditional immunity by the Commission
from prosecution in return for its continuing cooperation in the probe.
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