On 11 February 2022, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Ms Sarah McNaughton SC announced her decision to decline to proceed further in the criminal prosecutions of Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Bank AG and four senior banking executives for cartel offences arising from an ANZ institutional share placement in August 2015.
These prosecutions commenced in June 2018 following an investigation by the ACCC and a referral of a brief of evidence to the CDPP.
The CDPP Deputy Director said “All decisions relating to the conduct of federal criminal prosecutions are made in accordance with the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth, including any decision to discontinue a prosecution already commenced. Prosecutors apply the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth at all stages of the prosecution process to ensure that proceedings continue to be adequately supported by admissible evidence and continue to be in the public interest. In this case, following a further careful review of the evidence and consideration of detailed submissions received from solicitors acting for the accused, the Director concluded that there were no longer reasonable prospects of conviction for the charges before the court. This resulted in the Director’s decision to decline to proceed further in the proceedings against the remaining defendants in this complex matter”.
