Citibank to pay R70m in forex probe

Citibank, the North American bank accused of colluding to fix the price of the ZAR/USD currency pair, has reached an almost R70 million settlement with the Competition Commission.

The bank will pay an administrative penalty of R69 500 860, for its role in colluding on the price for bids, offers and bid offer spreads for spot trades in relation to currency trading involving the rand.

In a statement, the CompCom said the administrative penalty does not exceed 10% of Citibank’s annual turnover in South Africa.

“This settlement was done to encourage speedy settlement and full disclosure to strengthen the evidence for prosecution of the other banks,” said Tembinkosi Bonakele, Competition Commissioner.

The commission added that Citibank has undertaken to cooperate in further investigations and will avail witnesses to assist the prosecution of the other banks that colluded in this matter.

A representative for the Citi Group in Johannesburg declined to comment on the matter when reached by Moneyweb.

The commission has referred a collusion to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution of 17 local and foreign banks said to be part of the forex trading cartel.

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