A man’s ambitious KZN High Court (Durban) bid to have Wesbank’s trading licences revoked, has fallen flat on its face, notes a report in The Mercury. Sivapragasen Naidu also wanted the SA Reserve Bank to ‘reprimand and enlighten Wesbank of their failure to comply with the Banking Code of Conduct, government regulatory Acts’ and for the court to order the bank to pay him a R4.6m counterclaim he lodged in 2011, following court action being instituted against him.

But Judge Jacqui Henriques ruled that the court could not grant Naidu any of the relief he was seeking, dismissing the matter with costs.

In 2011, the bank took Naidu to court after he defaulted on his car instalments. His defence, at the time, was that he had given notice in terms of the ‘take-a-break’ clause. But the court found in the favour of the bank and granted a money judgment against Naidu. This prompted Naidu to take the bank to court, claiming it had violated the banking code of conduct and contravened its consumer instalment agreement. However, Henriques found the bank did not have a registered address – nor was its principal place of business – within the KZN High Court’s jurisdiction. She also said the Banks Act only made provision for the Registrar of Banks to apply to a court to have a bank’s trading licences revoked and/or suspended, ‘not the applicant.’

Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)