In its complaint against numerous banks for allegedly collaborating to set prices and split markets in the rand-dollar exchange rate, the Competition Commission has made no case against either Nedbank Group Ltd or Nedbank Ltd.
This was the argument advanced by Anthony Gotz SC, counsel for Nedbank Group Ltd and Nedbank Ltd, in opposition to the commission's motion to include the holding company and the bank in its 2015 complaint.
The commission's attorney, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC, argued at the start of the proceedings on Monday that the requirement to appropriately spend public monies required the nine banks accused of manipulating the rand-dollar exchange rate to be joined in a case against 23 other banks previously charged by the commission.
Ngcukaitobi went on to say that having all banks facing the same charge in the same room would help avert a cascade of measures.The nine banks, on the other hand, were opposed to their planned joinder in the lawsuit. HSBC Bank USA, Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc, Bank of America NA, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Nedbank Group Ltd, Nedbank Ltd, FirstRand Ltd, FirstRand Bank Ltd, and Standard Americas Inc are the companies in question.
“No cause of action has been established against either of the respondents.” There is no prima facie case to be made against Nedbank Group.“In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable for Nedbank Group to ask, 'What am I doing here？'” It has the right to oppose to the joinder on the grounds that “no case has been made out,” according to Gotz. Nedbank Group Ltd, according to Gotz, was not a bank nor an approved foreign exchange broker.
“It cannot be a participant in the act alleged by the petitioners based on that fact alone.” It does not have any traders on staff. Why does the commission insist on being named as a respondent？ “At the absolute least, the Nedbank Group should not be involved in these actions,” Gotz added.Similarly, Mark Wesley, an attorney representing FirstRand Ltd and FirstRand Bank Ltd, contested the joinder, claiming that there were no charges against FirstRand Ltd, which is a holding company of FirstRand Bank Ltd. When the tribunal reconvene on Tuesday morning, Ngcukaitobi will respond to the financial firms.
The alleged misconduct was carried out through the sharing of competitively sensitive information on currency trading electronic messaging networks. According to the commission, this allowed banks to coordinate their trading activity when quoting consumers who wanted to buy or sell currencies. This coordination, according to the report, had the effect of reducing competition among banks by allowing them to charge a set price for a specified quantity of cash.
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