Johannesburg - Barclays Africa Group apologised for its
role in a rand-fixing affair involving more than a dozen banks, saying that it
tipped off regulators about the practice after suspending two of its own
traders.
“We deeply regret that this conduct took place within our
organization,” CEO Maria Ramos said on a conference call Thursday, without
identifying the employees. “Those who contravened our rules will be held
accountable.”
South Africa’s antitrust investigators listed more than a
dozen banks, including Barclays Africa, in its probe earlier this month and
named more than 30 traders for price fixing and market allocation in the
trading of foreign-currency pairs involving the rand. Citigroup on February 20
said that it agreed to pay a penalty of almost R70 million ($5.4 million) to
settle the case and would make witnesses available to help prosecute other
banks.
Barclays Africa’s Absa unit said in a statement Thursday
that the Competition Commission isn’t seeking any administrative penalty
against the bank. The lender said it brought the conduct of the currency
traders to the attention of the commission under the regulator’s leniency
program.
Under pressure
The antitrust finding comes as President Jacob Zuma and
his governing African National Congress step up pressure on the country’s four
largest lenders, saying they should lend more to black clients. Zuma and the
banks are also locked in a stand-off after the lenders closed the accounts of
companies tied to his friends, the Gupta family, who are accused of using their
relationship with him to influence government appointments and contracts.
Barclays Africa was also the target of protests outside
some branches after a leaked draft report by South Africa’s anti-graft
ombudsman said the lender may have benefited from a bailout provided to a bank
it bought before the end of apartheid.
Read also: Barclays Africa granted immunity in rand-rigging probe
Barclays Africa rose 0.6 percent to R158.51 as of 10:30
a.m. in Johannesburg. It’s the worst-performing bank stock in South Africa this
year, having declined 5.8 percent compared with the average drop of 4.8 percent
on the six-member banks index.
Earlier, Barclays Africa said it will receive the
equivalent of about $1.1 billion for costs associated with splitting from its UK
parent Barclays.
The African bank’s full-year net income rose 2.6 percent
to R14.7 billion from 14.3 billion a year earlier after the bank contained
costs and increased lending to businesses. Earnings per share excluding
one-time items rose 5 percent to 17.69, missing the 17.94 rand median estimate
of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Return on equity declined to 16.6 percent
from 17 percent and the cost-to-income ratio dropped to 55.2 percent from 56
percent.