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Oliver Kazunga Acting Business Editor
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has applied for the liquidation of Interfin Bank Limited following the expiry of its curatorship period on December 31, 2014.
In a public notice, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said it was seeking the liquidation of the bank as it considered the move to be in the best interests of Interfin, depositors and creditors.
“The RBZ has in terms of section 57 of the Banking Act (Chapter 24:20), applied to the High Court of Zimbabwe for the liquidation of the banking institution,” said the central bank, adding that this follows Interfin Bank’s curatorship period December 31, 2014 expiry date.
The financial institution was placed under curatorship in order to protect depositors and preserve the assets of the banking institution with the intention of resuscitating the bank.
Against this background, the monetary authorities said, during the curatorship period, there were various initiatives and attempts to revive the banking institution by the curator.
“A total of 12 potential investors were considered. However, none of the proposals put forward yielded any positive results and the institution’s condition continued to deteriorate in the absence of concrete recapitalisation plans.”
The RBZ said it had determined that it was no longer feasible to revive Interfin as a viable entity as all efforts to recapitalise the bank have yielded no positive results.
It said any further extension of the curatorship period would only further prejudice depositors and creditors.
Interfin was placed under curatorship in June 2011 after an investigation alleged looting by major shareholders, leaving the bank saddled with non-performing insider loans amounting to $60 million.
The financial institution required at least $50 million to turnaround its fortunes.
At the moment, Zimbabwe has a total of 20 operational financial institutions classified under commercial, building societies, merchant banks and savings banks.
In the 2015 national budget, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said a number of reforms were being instituted to strengthen the banking sector.
“These reforms have been necessitated by the need to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory framework as well as enhance financial stability,” he said.
Chinamasa said as at September 30, 2014, a total of 14 operational banks excluding POSB were in compliance with the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
Online Reporter