Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan asks that reckless culture that led to the financial crisis must be prevented.

South Africa’s National Treasury has proposed a dedicated market conduct regulator to deal with the abuses of banks.

In a press conference hosted by Treasury on Wednesday, South Africa’s Finance Minister said the 17 banks which have been referred to the Competition Tribunal for colluding in forex price fixing must be dealt with. Financial institutions must act responsibly to prevent the reckless culture that led to the financial crisis, he urged.

In his Budget speech he said the Competition Commission investigation into the banks, which led it to refer them to the Tribunal, is evidence “of a collusive culture at trading desks in banks. It is precisely to deal with such abuses that we have proposed a dedicated market conduct regulator, and we hope Parliament will pass this Bill as soon as possible”.

His speech also revealed that the Reserve Bank and National Treasury have initiated work on a more comprehensive Financial Markets Review under the leadership of former Deputy Governor James Cross.