Pretoria - The Sekunjalo Group (Sekunjalo) has asked the Competition Appeal Court to dismiss an appeal application brought by three banks, including Standard Bank, which is challenging the order handed down last year by the Competition Tribunal (the Tribunal), which prevented banking institutions from closing its accounts and required them to reinstate those that were closed.
In its response yesterday afternoon, Sekunjalo through its legal counsel, Advocate Vuyani Ngalwana, SC, argued that the appeal application by Standard Bank, Access Bank and Mercantile Bank was “premature” as the Competition Tribunal had not made a final order and had extended the existing order to September 15, 2023.
Ngalwana also told the court that the Commission Tribunal had extended its investigation into the matter until December this year, despite this date going beyond the order’s extension.
The appeal application yesterday followed a Competition Tribunal ruling in September last year on the case brought by the Sekunjalo Group against the banks, which ordered the cited banks not to close Sekunjalo’s accounts until a final order was made.
Banks involved in the matter were also ordered to reopen any already closed bank accounts of Sekunjalo until a decision was made by the Competition Tribunal.
The Tribunal found that the banks had failed to prove the veracity of the offences allegedly committed by Sekunjalo, which resulted in the closure of their bank accounts based on perceived reputational risk.
At the time, the Tribunal ruled that the order was in force for six months, which ended on March 15 this year.
The three banks involved in yesterday’s proceedings filed their appeal in October, shortly after the order was granted.
Advocate Steven Budlender, acting for Standard Bank, asked the court to uphold the appeal quoting regulatory and statutory reasons including the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.
But Ngalwana disagreed, saying that it could not be disputed that Access and Mercantile Banks, in their founding affidavits, accepted that the order of the Competition Tribunal was a minimum of six months and a maximum of 12 months, saying both were aware that the original order would now lapse on September 15 this year.
He also asked the court to reject Standard Bank’s attempt to introduce new evidence during an appeal process.
“The bank claims that it obtained new evidence on 7 and 8 March.
“That evidence was obtained before the starting of the hearing on April 25 last year and a decision was made on September 15.
“It is our submission that Standard Bank had all the right to apply for the reopening of the case before a decision was made. They cannot use the Appeal Court as the court of first instance.
“They had ample opportunity to reopen the case before the judgment was made,” Ngalwana said.
The case continues.
Pretoria News