JOHANNESBURG - All major South African banks are now off the hook when it comes to claims they manipulated the rand.
The Competition Commission's appeal against a ruling that barred it from prosecuting banks, including Standard Bank, First Rand and Nedbank, has failed in the Constitutional Court.
This has left only a handful of global banks in the firing line.
The Commission had been trying, for years, to prosecute banks it accused of manipulating the rand-dollar exchange rate to their own benefit.
It began with a list of 28 banks and recommended fines of up to 10% of each bank's revenue.
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The Competition Commission appealed a ruling by the Competition Appeal Court, which limited the prosecutions to four global entities only.
But the appeal failed in the Constitutional Court.
This means Standard Bank, First Rand and Nedbank are among the banks that are fully in the clear.
The Commission will still be able to pursue cases against BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC and Standard Americas Incorporated.
Standard Bank was the first to welcome the ruling.