Alleged Banking Cartel Case Commenced

Some major news on the ACCC front - the ACCC has foreshadowed that criminal charges are to be laid against ANZ and others in relation to an alleged cartel concerning an institutional share placement.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/correction-criminal-cartel-charges-to-be-laid-against-anz

Wow! The ACCC has also foreshadowed criminal proceedings against Deutsche Bank for the alleged cartel concerning the institutional placement.  The other two underwriters were Citigroup and JP Morgan so it will be interesting to see if they both get charged as well.  If one of them doesn't get charged that may suggest that they were the whistleblower. Hope the ACCC has deep pockets as this case is going to be a very expensive fight for them to win!

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/update-criminal-cartel-charges-to-be-laid-against-deutsche-bank

Further ACCC announcement - charges are to be laid against Citigroup. Therefore, it looks like JP Morgan as the third underwriter may have been the whistleblower.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/update-criminal-cartel-charges-to-be-laid-against-citigroup

A number of senior executives have also been charged as part of the ACCC's case against ANZ, Deutsche Bank and Citi Group. One thing that should be noted is how the criminal prosecution process works. It is the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) who has to make the final decision whether to commence a criminal prosecution. The CDPP's decision also has to be made independently of the referring agency. In other words, the ACCC doesn't make the final decision on whether to commence a prosecution or who to charge. The CDPP under its Prosecution Policy has a two-stage test that must be satisfied before a prosecution is commenced: (1) there must be sufficient evidence to prosecute the case; and (2) it must be evident from the facts of the case, and all the surrounding circumstances, that the prosecution would be in the public interest. I worked with the CDPP on a couple of criminal prosecutions during my time at the ACCC and I found them to be very exacting in terms of the evidence they required before they would decide to commence a prosecution. Indeed, it seemed to me at the time that the standard was way higher than merely "sufficient evidence".

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/criminal-cartel-charges-laid-against-anz-citigroup-and-deutsche-bank