Macquarie notes agreed settlement with ACCC

Macquarie Bank Limited (Macquarie) notes today’s Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announcement that Macquarie and the ACCC have filed joint court submissions relating to an agreed settlement of a matter arising from the conduct of a single Macquarie employee in Singapore in 2011.

Macquarie notes that the ACCC acknowledges that no Macquarie senior management, or any other Macquarie employees were involved in or aware of the conduct of the former junior employee. The individual’s employment was terminated in 2012.

The settlement arises from the former employee’s unauthorised chat messages on eight days relating to the setting of the Malaysian Ringgit NDF (Non-Deliverable Forward) benchmark rate by a panel of banks in Singapore. Macquarie has never been a member of that panel nor has it made rates submissions.

Macquarie notes the ACCC does not allege, nor does Macquarie make an admission, that it engaged in any conduct affecting the benchmark or that Macquarie obtained any benefit from the attempted behaviour.

Since Macquarie became aware of the matter and as the ACCC notes, it has significantly strengthened its e-communication surveillance globally, improved trade monitoring and intensified training for its front office staff.