Legal Articles and Guides
The fight to stop the anti-graft Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment (Fica) Bill becoming law has been stepped up with a threat to take it to the Constitutional Court if it is approved by Parliament next week, notes Daily News. The Black Business Council and the Progressive Professionals Forum yesterday insisted that the Bill was not consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, and Parliament should not approve it.
Three officials employed by the state benefited from the City of Johannesburg to the tune of R18.5m, according to an Auditor-General report released yesterday. Corruption, nepotism and the falsification of documents are some of the issues revealed by the Auditor-General in the city’s integrated annual report for the 2015-2016 financial year, says a City Press report.
Absa will defend the case brought by businessman Fana Hlongwane, who is suing the bank for R7m after it closed his business bank accounts in 2013. A Fin24 report notes the closure followed the bank’s review of Hlongwane’s firms in terms of its policy on politically-exposed people. The review was sparked following the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the arms deal.
Politically-connected businessman Fana Hlongwane, whose bank accounts were closed after he underwent review as a politically-exposed person in 2013, is suing Absa for R7m, claiming the closure of his accounts was unlawful and that the bank had violated his constitutional rights, says a Business Day report.
In a significant ruling – given the Treasury’s pending application seeking a declaration that it may not intervene in the relationship between the big four banks and the Gupta family – the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) yesterday found Absa Bank’s bona fides could not be questioned when in 2013 it closed the accounts of businessman Fana Hlongwane and his companies, notes Daily News.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) posted the highest year-on-year return on investment (ROI) of any asset class in South Africa in October 2015. According to data from Catalyst Fund Managers REITS returns reached 15.6%, with a year-on-year ROI of 20.2%. Conversely, equities posted returns of 11.3% and bonds posted at 4%.
Five Chatsworth, Durban, relatives admitted in the Commercial Crimes Court that they helped a Durban-based Chinese businessman transfer more than $10m (about R135m) home illegally, says a Sunday Tribune report. The accused " Mohammed Ebrahim, Bilkis Karim, Rohaida Valley, Ebrahim Cassim and Iqbal Hoosen " who are all unemployed, pleaded guilty to charges relating to breaching the SA Reserve Bank Act. They allegedly moved large sums in multiple transactions.
A Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) application has exposed how the chairperson of a R12bn pension fund irregularly obtained a home loan, secured by the fund, to buy a Mercedes-Benz and to pay off his tax bill, says a City Press report. Despite being accused of contravening section 19(5) of the Pension Funds Act, Ron Field remains in his post as chair of the National Fund for Municipal Workers – a fund that holds the pensions of 43 000 municipal workers. However, notes the report, the fund has defended its decision to keep its chair on the board, saying although his behaviour was not ‘squeaky clean’, it wasn’t criminal.
The battle between shareholder activist Dave Woollam and the directors of Lewis Stores has escalated, with the lodging of papers at the Western Cape High Court that could result in the minority shareholder having the directors declared delinquent. A Business Day report says if successful, the court action will propel shareholder activism to new and more aggressive levels. Woollam’s application is in terms of section 165 of the Companies Act, described by a corporate lawyer as the most potent weapon available to minority shareholders. The Act enables a shareholder to ask a court to appoint a third party to investigate a company. Four directors of Lewis Stores are facing charges of delinquency that if confirmed could end their careers, notes the report.
The Panama leaks, last year’s HSBC leaks, and OECD’s “Automatic Exchange of Information initiative” all suggest that South African residents with accounts and investments in foreign tax jurisdictions should ensure that they are fully compliant with all their local and international tax and exchange control obligations.
Does your company provide credit facilities to consumers? Is your company registered with the National Credit Regulator as a Registered Credit Provider? It is important to note that the exemption from the requirement to register as credit provider does not mean that the National Credit Act does not apply.
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