The JSE has put bank and wealth management company Sasfin on notice that it is likely to suspend the trading of its shares on the bourse after the group failed to meet deadlines to submit its results, keeping investors in the dark about its performance.
The stock exchange on Tuesday said Sasfin, which has attracted bad publicity over the past two years, had failed to submit its condensed financial statements within the three-month period stipulated in the JSE’s listings requirements.
“Accordingly, the company’s listing on the JSE trading system has been annotated with a ‘RE’ to indicate that the company has failed to submit its condensed financial statements timeously and that the listing of the company’s securities is under threat of suspension and possible removal,” the JSE said in a statement.
“If the above-mentioned company still fails to submit its condensed financial statements on or before 31 October 2024, then its listing may be suspended. This announcement has been placed by the JSE in the interest of shareholders.”
Sasfin is facing a huge tax bill from the SA Revenue Service (Sars). The tax agency earlier this year slapped Sasfin with a R4.9bn bill plus interest and costs. The claim comes months after the company’s employees were ensnared in illicit tobacco deals and helped facilitate money-laundering and circumvent exchange controls.
The employees have been fired. Sasfin is opposing Sars’ demands with the matter likely to be resolved before the courts. The SA Reserve Bank in August imposed a R209.6m fine on the company, of which R49m was suspended, meaning the company would have to pay the fiscus R160.4m.
The sanctions principally relate to allegations of historic noncompliance within Sasfin Bank’s discontinued foreign exchange business.
In 2023, Al Jazeera reported that staff of Sasfin and two other banks had been on the payroll of Mohamed Khan, an alleged accomplice of cigarette magnate Simon Rudland, alleged to be the kingpin behind Zimbabwean gold smuggling gangs.
These are said to smuggle gold into SA, the proceeds of which are allegedly laundered through Khan’s company, Salt Asset Management, before being transferred to offshore bank accounts.
Sasfin CEO Michael Sassoon said in the group’s 2023 annual report that apart from firing the implicated employees and opening criminal cases compliance and control functions had been bolstered.
The mooted suspension from the JSE comes as it is delisting from the bourse. The company offered minority shareholders nearly R1bn in July to buy them out and take the company private. The offer, at R30 a share, was a 65% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average, the group said, adding that the transaction would be funded by its two largest shareholders, Unitas Enterprises and black women-owned investment company Wiphold.
Sasfin listed on the JSE in 1987. The company has over the past year been reorganising its portfolio. In 2023, it sold its commercial equipment finance and commercial property finance units to African Bank in a R3.2bn deal. The group has previously stated its strategy was to grow market share in its wealth management unit, which has assets under management and advice of about R66.4bn. /With Tiisetso Motsoeneng
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