Nedbank has been referred to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) by the Airports Company SA (ACSA) and in addition may face legal woes from Transnet.
According to News24, the bank is at loggerheads with ACSA and Transnet over interest rate swap transactions that were conducted with state-owned entities (SOEs).
These transactions were allegedly based on advice from Regiments Capital, a company linked to the Gupta family.
According to the report, Regiments served as a financial adviser to ACSA and Transnet and would broker funding agreements with various SOEs and this included a number of multibillion-rand interest rate swap transactions with Nedbank.
Regiments Capital was paid handsomely for being the middle man.
"ACSA has approached the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for it to initiate legal proceedings on behalf of ACSA against Nedbank," the company told News24.
"ACSA has not notified Nedbank of its intention to seek damages," ACSA said.
Nedbank is aware of the referral and has said that it will cooperate with any investigations.
Transnet
Transnet is also weighing its options against Nedbank and said that it may seek legal or regulatory recourse against the financial institution.
The rail company said that it was unable to disclose all the details on the matter with Nedbank due to the confidential nature of the engagements.
"If the engagements between the parties are unsuccessful, Transnet will be left with no alternative but to pursue the available remedies to protect its rights and interests, including recovery of the amounts in question," Transnet said.
Nedbank CEO Mike Brown
Nedbank is aware that it may face legal or regulatory proceedings over the interest rate swap deals.
"We certainly don't think they were prejudiced in any way - they think they were. We'll have to demonstrate who's right and who's wrong," Nedbank’s CEO Mike Brown said.
"Nowhere in any of our engagements has anyone given us proof that either Nedbank or our staff were involved in any way knowing that Regiments and the SOEs were in some way fraudulently colluding," he added.
IOL NEWS has reached out to SIU to enquire if the unit will be taking up the case and will conduct investigations into the interest rate deals and Nedbank’s role.
Nedbank’s share Price
Nedbank’s share price was not impacted by ACSA’s referral to the SIU on Monday.
The bank’s stock was trading at around R225.50 at 11.30am. It was trading at around R222.38 at the close of business on Friday.
Over the last year, the the bank’s share price has increased by 3.34%.
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