Publications
Partners
- Standard Bank says it will keep the accounts of Independent Newspapers open for now.
- The bank planned to close the struggling newspaper group's accounts after winning a court case.
- But the Sekunjalo Group, which owns Independent Newspapers, has now approached SA's highest court to overturn the decision.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page
Standard Bank says it will continue to provide banking services to Iqbal Survé's Sekunjalo Group "for the time being" after the owner of Independent Newspapers lodged a bid for leave to appeal with the Constitutional Court.
Last month the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) found that Standard Bank had not engaged in anti-competitive behaviour when it put Sekunjalo's accounts under review.
Following the ruling, Standard Bank told Sekunjalo it would shut its banking facilities on 21 August.
The bank offers facilities to Sekunjalo's subsidiary Independent Newspapers, the publisher of newspapers such as the Cape Times, The Star, and Isolezwe.
SA's largest newspaper publisher is already suffering from falling circulation and plummeting advertising. Last month it announced it would be cutting at least 40% of its staff in a bid to stay operational.
In response to the CAC ruling, newspapers in the Independent Newspapers stable launched a media blitz to get Standard Bank to walk back its decision - including by publishing personal appeals from journalists.
Sekunjalo also launched a bid for leave to appeal the ruling to SA's highest court.
The group's latest legal effort is part of an increasingly complex web of litigation it has embarked on to retain banking facilities. In addition to legal proceedings before competition authorities, it has lodged cases in the High Court and Equality Court.
READ | Court grants Iqbal Survé’s Sekunjalo group interim interdict to keep Nedbank accounts open
Standard Bank has now said it will keep Sekunjalo's accounts open "for the time being".
"Standard Bank’s actions will be guided by its obligations under law and it will continue to respect court processes. Standard Bank will be opposing the appeal to the Constitutional Court," it said.
Client concerns
The bank put its relationship with Sekunjalo under review following the publication of the findings of the Mpati Commission of Inquiry.
President Cyril Ramaphosa set up the inquiry in 2018 to probe alleged wrongdoing at SA's state asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
The Mpati report, published in March 2020, found that the PIC's investments in Sekunjalo subsidiaries showed a "marked disregard for PIC policy and standard operating procedures".
It recommended that the PIC conduct a forensic review of its transactions with the Sekunjalo Group.
READ | Union wants R300m back from Survé-linked media group as it can't pay pension, funeral bills
Standard Bank was one of the last banks to review its banking relationship with Sekunjalo.
By the time it considered shutting Sekunjalo's accounts in 2022, other major banks, including FNB, Absa, and Investec, had already closed Sekunjalo's facilities citing reputational risk.
Sekunjalo and its outspoken chairperson Survé have denied that the Mpati report made any adverse findings against them.
Survé has also claimed that "the establishment" is pursuing a "vendetta" against him and his companies as they cannot "control" the Sekunjalo group.
October 2018: President Cyril Ramaphosa appoints a commission of inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing at the Public Investment Corporation. Former Supreme Court of Appeal head Justice Lex Mpati is named as the inquiry's head.
March 2020: The report of the Mpati Commission of Inquiry is made public.
November 2020: Absa starts to close accounts linked to Sekunjalo. Other banks, including FNB, Nedbank, Access Bank, and Mercantile Bank, follow suit.
March 2022: Sekunjalo asks the Competition Tribunal to grant it an interim order blocking banks from closing its accounts.
June 2022: Sekunjalo wins an interim order in the Equality Court preventing Nedbank from closing its accounts.
July 2022: Sekunjalo says it intends to take the Mpati report on review.
September 2022: The Competition Tribunal grants Sekunjalo interim relief, ordering banks to reopen or keep its accounts open pending the finalisation of the Competition Commission's probe.
July 2023: The Competition Appeal Court finds for Mercantile Bank, Standard Bank and Access Bank, saying there is no proof they engaged in anti-competitive behaviour.
2 August 2023: Standard Bank informs Sekunjalo that it will close its accounts on 21 August.
10 August: Standard Bank says it will keep Sekunjalo's accounts open following an application for leave to appeal the CAC ruling.
*Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Standard Bank would keep Sekunjalo's accounts open until the Constitutional Court had decided on the matter. In fact, the bank has only promised to keep the accounts open "for the time being".
