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2 Aussie banks admit to cartel conduct, foreign currency rate rigging

Xinhua, November 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has on Friday announced it had taken proceedings against both the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and Macquarie Bank for their involvement in attempting to set a benchmark price for the Malaysian ringgit.

The ANZ and Macquarie Bank have admitted to playing a part in 10 instances and eight instances of cartel conduct respectively since 2011, with the ACCC alleging they tried to manipulate the price of the ringgit at the Association of Banks in Singapore.

The ACCC released a statement on Friday detailing the proceedings, with chairman Rod Sims saying employees from both banks "sought to influence" the rate of the ringgit, and while the ANZ was the "submitting bank," Macquarie employees often initiated the discussions through the use of "private online chatrooms."

"These proceedings are a reminder that Australian cartel laws apply to financial markets, and capture cartel conduct by firms that carry on business in Australia, regardless of where that conduct occurred," Sims said in a statement on Friday.

"The ACCC recognizes the integrity of foreign exchange markets plays a fundamental role in our market economy."

The ACCC and the banks have agreed the ANZ will pay a pecuniary penalty of 6.7 million U.S. dollars and make a contribution to the ACCC's costs while Macquarie will pay 4.5 million U.S. dollars in addition to a contribution to the ACCC's legal fees.

A statement released by Macquarie Bank said the junior employee who was involved in the conduct was no longer with the company, while the ANZ said none of its employees involved in the scandal were still working at the ANZ.

"While there is no evidence that the benchmarks in Singapore were successfully influenced, we accept responsibility and apologize for the actions of our former employees," the ANZ statement said. Endit