Legal Articles and Guides

Axed Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo says there is no punishment befitting Old Mutual directors other than six months' jail time, without the option of a fine, on the contempt of court charges he lodged against them for disregarding a ruling that he be reinstated.

Old Mutual has made a plea to the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg), saying the potential imprisonment of board members – if they are found guilty of contempt of court for not allowing ousted CEO Peter Moyo to return to work – would be ‘excessive and inappropriate’.

The judge presiding in the delinquent director case against Dudu Myeni has warned that the matter was dragging on for too long after the former SAA chair failed to appear in Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) for the second time in as many days.

The delinquent director case against Dudu Myeni has been postponed as the former SAA chair could not afford to travel to Pretoria.

Old Mutual is digging in its heels, saying it will not give in and settle with Peter Moyo as it is confident it will be able to overturn a court ruling that ordered it to reinstate the ousted CEO.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) slapped embattled Steinhoff International with a record R1.5bn fine yesterday for misrepresenting its finances to the market. Steinhoff will only need to pay R53m of the fine, with the FCSA noting the retailer's current financial position and co-operation with authorities.

Giving courts the power to declare directors delinquent was introduced in section 162 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 as amended in 2011 as part of the overhaul of SA’s corporate law regime.

In a report that purports to expose what it terms the 'dark underbelly of the business rescue industry', Moneyweb says a recent Section 417 investigation – an inquiry aimed at discovering whether assets were stripped or looted – into the events leading up to the liquidation of the Benoni-based crane supplier, Harrison and White Investments (H&W), has revealed the extent to which business rescue proceedings can be abused to the detriment of creditors.

A chartered accountant has found himself on the wrong side of the law because of questionable ethics and conduct. Phumlani Zwane’s protracted legal fight with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has been brought to an end by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), which has declared him a delinquent director twice over, says a Daily Maverick report.

Convicted murderer Jason Rohde will urgently apply for bail this week so that he can deal with a hostile business partner who is a threat to the financial security of his daughters. ‘I respectfully submit that in the interests of justice I am permitted bail to afford me the opportunity to generate income and maintain my children financially, and of course, afford them emotional support,’ he stated in his application filed in the Western Cape High Court last week.

Steinhoff is claiming R870m from former CEO Markus Jooste and an additional R272m from former CFO Ben la Grange for 'unjustified enrichment', according to a summons filed in the Western Cape High Court.

Peter Moyo plans to launch a lawsuit against his former employer Old Mutual after he was fired as the CEO of the insurer over an alleged conflict of interest, his lawyer said yesterday, according to a Business Day report.

A company’s directors have both the power and the duty to manage the company’s affairs for its benefit. When two or more directors are in place, it’s perhaps natural for the occasional disagreement to arise between them. Indeed, regular expression of a variety of different viewpoints and ideas can make for a strong, dynamic board and business. Provided, that is, that the directors are in the end result still able to agree on the decisions vital to their company’s continued operations.

A family feud and legal spat between the co-directors of the Summerstrand Hotel in Port Elizabeth have resulted in one of the siblings being declared a delinquent director and removed as a director from the companies they inherited from their father.

Another massive sale of assets belonging to Gupta-owned Shiva Uranium is on the cards as the battle between the company’s current and former business rescue practitioners heads to the SCA, says a report on the IoL site.