Cape Town | Wednesday
DEUTSCHE BANK Securities managing director Niall Carrol has rejected accusations the bank colluded to weaken the rand late last year, saying allegations in a letter published this week were factually incorrect.
He said on Wednesday he would be interested to see what unfolded at the Myburgh Commission hearings into the rand’s depreciation, which are to reconvene next week.
South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) CEO Kevin Wakeford – who apparently submitted the letter to President Thabo Mbeki – is due before the commission on Tuesday and Deutsche Bank on Thursday.
The letter, dated January 8 and published in the latest Financial Mail, alleges the bank used dubious financial methods in a deal with chemicals giant Sasol.
Asked for comment on the letter, Carrol said: ”It is wrong… what is in the alleged letter is just factually incorrect and is just wrong.”
He added that the bank had been accused of ”all sorts of things” and was not sure what all the accusations were.
”The difficulty we have is that we are not quite sure what we have been accused of,” Carrol said.
Mbeki appointed a commission of inquiry in January to probe the 37% fall in the value of the rand in 2001, on the basis of information from Wakeford.
The letter alleges the two companies added to rand weakness through an elaborate deal between Sasol and Deutsche Bank in which Sasol would buy German chemical company Condea.
A representative for Sasol said the company stood by its earlier statement refuting the allegations in their entirety.
Sasol had no further comment to make and would issue a statement ”at the appropriate time”, he said.
The letter says that the two companies could have caused the currency’s drop to strengthen their economic position in relation to falling oil prices, where a weaker rand would boost resource stocks and commodity prices for companies in the local market.
It alleges they used an asset swap deal to help fund Sasol’s acquisition of Condea, which ultimately left Deutsche Bank overexposed to the rand through holdings of Sasol shares.
The bank sold the rands into the market thereby reportedly adding to the weakening of the currency.- Sapa