The confession to rand-rigging by Standard Chartered Bank of London, and its minimalist R43 million fine in a Competition Commission plea bargain where more bank names will be revealed, represent the tip of a lethal iceberg.
Since 2015, the extent of currency manipulation has been obvious, notwithstanding then-finance minister Tito Mboweni’s arrogant denial during a March 2019 parliamentary debate.
Successful prosecutions were piling up in the US against participants in the “ZAR Domination” Bloomberg chatroom, where officials of 28 major banks colluded to make profits from gaming the rand.
The Competition Tribunal labelled the act an “egregious” legal violation, but the Reserve Bank, National Treasury, SAPS, Hawks and National Prosecuting Authority have been notoriously
