RAND MANIPULATION: ANC SUPPORTS CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST IMPLICATED BANKS

The Competition Commission believes 28 banks were part of a movement to manipulate the rand between 2007 and 2013 - where traders from different banks would share information in chat rooms - manipulating the rand in favour of the banks.

Orrin Singh | 06 December 2023 18:54

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) said it supports any criminal charges and prosecution against traders and bank institutes implicated in the manipulation of the rand.

The investigation dating back to 2013, resurfaced last month after UK banking giant, Standard Chartered, admitted to having played a hand in manipulating the rand.

The Competition Commission believes 28 banks were part of a movement to manipulate the rand between 2007 and 2013 - where traders from different banks would share information in chat rooms, manipulating the rand in favour of the banks.

Addressing journalists earlier on Wednesday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the law must run its course.

"The ANC reiterates its call for law enforcement agencies to act decisively and expeditiously in bringing criminal charges against those individuals and banking institutions implicated in manipulating the rand."

Mbalula said the private sector is not immune to corruption.

"The rand manipulation was a crime of corruption and we must call things by their first names, corruption in the private sector is still corruption, and its consequences are just as severe."

In a pushback, the banks have approached the Competition Appeal Court where a ruling is expected in 2024.