ANZ Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup will be charged with criminal cartel activity in Australia. The shock news is a further blow to the tarnished banking industry down under.
The Melbourne-based bank is being investigated for alleged criminal cartel conduct, Australian competition regulator said on Friday. The ACCC, or Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said the prosecutor expects to lay charges against ANZ, the bank's treasurer Rick Moscati, two other companies and other people.
The charges relate to trading in ANZ shares following an share placement with institutional investors in August 2015. In bringing charges, prosecutors will claim that ANZ and the other companies and other individuals were «knowingly concerned in alleged cartel conduct» in relation to the share offer.
Severe Punishment
ANZ said it had acted lawfully and intended to defend itself. ANZ risk chief Kevin Corbally said, «We believe ANZ acted in accordance with the law in relation to the placement and on that basis the bank intends to defend both the company and our employee», in a statement on the bank's website.
The stakes are high for each of the three banks: under Aussie cartel laws, companies can be fined up to 10 percent of their turnover or three times the profit gained, while executives can face jail terms of up to 10 years if found guilty.
