The ACCC says the Federal Court has imposed multi-million dollar penalties on Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) and Macquarie Bank Ltd (Macquarie) for attempted cartel conduct after action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Following the filing of joint statements of facts and submissions by the parties, Justice Wigney imposed penalties of:
- $9 million against ANZ in respect of its admission that it engaged in ten instances of attempted cartel conduct in contravention of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA); and
- $6 million against Macquarie in respect of its admission that it engaged in eight instances of attempted cartel conduct in contravention of the CCA.
The banks were also ordered to contribute to the ACCC’s costs.
“These penalties underline the seriousness of the conduct involved in these proceedings. Two significant Australian banks have admitted that on several occasions their traders communicated with other banks in an attempt to influence the ABS MYR Fixing Rate. This conduct had the potential to undermine the integrity of foreign exchange markets and undermine healthy economic growth,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“Australia’s strong cartel laws apply equally across the economy, including in the banking sector.” Mr Sims said.
In his judgment, Justice Wigney stated:
“There could be little doubt that the attempted contraventions … were very serious… The conduct of the traders in question was deliberate and systematic.”
“Attempts by banks and other market participants to fix prices or financial benchmarks in the financial system should be regarded as particularly serious contravening conduct. It is essential that market participants and the public generally have confidence in the integrity and efficacy of the financial system.”
Justice Wigney also noted: “The Australian public is entitled to expect that Australia’s major corporations act as exemplary corporate citizens wherever in the world they may operate.”
Background
Traders employed by a number of banks in Singapore communicated via online chatrooms about daily submissions to be made to the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) in relation to the benchmark rate for the Malaysian ringgit (ABS MYR Fixing Rate).
ABS benchmark rates are used as reference rates for settling NDFs. Non-deliverable currencies are not freely tradeable outside the domestic economy, so a benchmark rate must be set by banks submitting their views on the appropriate rate. That benchmark is used to enable trade in forward contracts.
During the relevant period, the ABS MYR Fixing Rate was derived from submissions made each day by a panel of banks.
Every trading day, each bank on the panel was required to submit a buy and sell rate for USD against the MYR. The ABS rules required that the submissions were made independently and based on the banks’ objective assessment of the market.
During 2011, ANZ and Macquarie traders attempted to make arrangements with other banks to make high or low submissions to the ABS MYR Fixing Rate. The rate would ultimately affect settlement payments for MYR denominated non-deliverable forward contracts (NDFs).
ANZ was a submitting bank for the MYR. Macquarie was not a submitting bank however often initiated discussions between traders and acted as a hub or coordinator between submitting banks. ANZ and Macquarie’s customers included Australian companies.
The ACCC estimates that the annual MYR NDF turnover in Australia was approximately $9 to 10 billion.
Similar conduct has been investigated and sanctioned in other markets. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is also engaged in litigation against several Australian banks regarding the setting of interest rate benchmarks.
