SHAREHOLDERS of Interfin Financial Services, the parent company of the troubled Interfin Bank Limited, will later this month know the fate of the bank amid indications that the bank’s depositors may assume control of the financial institution. Acting Business Editor
The group yesterday released a notice of the AGM, which had initially been postponed as the bank pursued plans to court new investors.
Shareholders will receive an update on the status of the bank and receive the directors’ report and financial statement for the years ended December 31 2011 and 2012.
The meeting of shareholders came at a time the bank has been struggling to attract an investor amid indications that one of the frontrunners was now dragging its feet.
A South Africa-based restructuring and advisory firm, Delphini (Proprietary) Limited, wanted to buy 100% of the troubled bank, but could not commit itself.
According to central bank documents, the apex bank was considering transferring control of the bank to depositors after plans by Delphini seemed to have hit a snag.
Interfin Bank was placed under curatorship in 2012 after it was accused of abusing depositors’ funds and poor corporate governance. The curatorship has since June 2012 been extended in a bid to shore up the institution.
It was also affected by insider lending, the majority of it, non-performing.
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RBZ documents showed that Zimbabwe Alloys, which together with its associated companies owed the bank $55 million, was placed under judicial management.
“Although the curator issued summonses in respect of loans amounting to $105,58 million, only $14,19 million has been collected to date (September 2013.
“The total judgments and provisional sentences obtained constitute 66,73% of the total applied for,” RBZ said.
Last October, the bank announced that three potential investors had expressed interest in bailing out the financial institution.
Interfin became the first bank to be placed under a curator in a multicurrency regime despite the central bank insisting that it had no appetite for curatorships.
Meanwhile, the RBZ has placed seven troubled banks under surveillance amid concerns that the financial institutions could be facing insolvency problems.
According to a confidential central bank document seen by this paper, as at September 2013, a total of 14 out of 21 operating banking institutions (excluding POSB), were in compliance with the December 2012 minimum capital requirements of $25 million.
