SARB lodges application to liquidate VBS

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) announced on Tuesday that it has applied to the High Court to close down VBS Mutual bank following a report commissioned by the central bank titled “The Great Bank Heist” which was published this month and revealed that at least R1.9 billion had been looted from VBS by more than 50 individuals and entities.

The Reserve Bank said in a statement: “Whilst VBS is currently under curatorship pursuant to a decision taken by the minister of finance on 10 March 2018, the Prudential Authority (PA) is of the view that curatorship must now be terminated and VBS must be placed in final winding-up.”

Among SARB’s reasons for filing the application is the fact that the body declared VBS “hopelessly insolvent” as a result of the “massive frauds [that] have been perpetrated against it”.

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The Prudential Authority stated that it expects the application for the final winding up of VBS which was issued on Monday to be set down for hearing by the High Court in Pretoria, on Tuesday November 13.

The Mahikeng Local Municipality previously launched an application of its own for the final winding up of VBS in the Polokwane High Court but the PA has dubbed the municipality’s application “defective” for a number of reasons.

Chief among these reasons is the fact that the PA is the only official body that should terminate curatorship by liquidation and it is the High Court in Pretoria “which exercises jurisdiction in this matter,” explained the Reserve Bank.

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