The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken proceedings against ANZ Banking Group and Macquarie Bank in relation to alleged attempts to engage in cartel conduct.

Claiming that traders at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and Macquarie Bank (Macquarie) colluded in attempts to manipulate the exchange rate for the Malaysian ringgit, the Australian competition regulator is taking ANZ and Macquarie banks to court. 

Both ANZ and Macquarie have admitted the attempted cartel trading and agreed to pay fines of $15 million. The Federal Court however will decide the final amount of the fines.

Private Chatrooms Used

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says a trader at Macquarie, traders at ANZ and a number of other banks in Singapore used private online chatrooms to discuss the benchmark rate for the Malaysian ringgit.

ANZ has admitted to 10 instances of attempted cartel conduct and Macquarie to eight.Submissions to the Federal Court have been made as follows:

  • ACCC and ANZ have jointly submitted that ANZ pay a pecuniary penalty in the amount of $9 million and make a contribution to the ACCC’s costs.
  • ACCC and Macquarie have jointly submitted that Macquarie pay a pecuniary penalty in the amount of $6 million and make a contribution to the ACCC’s costs.Ultimately it is for the 

Ultimately however it is for the Court to decide whether penalties in these amounts are appropriate and the ACCC will not make any further comment regarding penalties until the Court makes final orders.

Staff Sacked

ANZ said that the three employees who were involved in the misconduct were no longer employees of the bank, while Macquarie said a single, junior employee, who was implicated had his employment terminated in 2012. 

Macquarie noted that the ACCC acknowledged that no Macquarie senior management, or any other Macquarie employees were involved in or aware of the conduct of the former junior employee.

Other Accusations

The matter was previously investigated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) which completed a review and supervisory action in 2013 involving 20 banks operating in Singapore, as the FT reported at the time.

Three of the four major Australian banks, namely NAB, ANZ and Westpac are also facing action by ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) for allegedly manipulating the bank bill swap rate in Australia.