A Nigerian judge adjourned on Wednesday a hearing over an $8.1bn dispute between South African telecoms giant MTN and the central bank until January. 22. The dispute is over the transfer of $8.1bn of funds which Nigeria’s central bank said the company had sent abroad in breach of foreign-exchange regulations. MTN has denied any wrongdoing. Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, accounting for a third of the South African company’s annual core profit. The adjournment came at the request of the central bank and MTN lawyers. “We are still making moves towards an out of court settlement,” a central bank lawyer told the court. An MTN lawyer said discussions were ongoing. JP Morgan said in a research report in November it had an “underweight” recommendation on MTN’s shares. The US bank said a best-case scenario would be a withdrawal of the $8.1bn with no penalty and no restrictions on future dividend repatriations. “If the central bank’s claim is withdrawn with no restrictions and no penalties,...
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