The prospects of salvaging VBS Mutual Bank, which is under curatorship, have diminished and it is not clear that it can be saved, Deputy Reserve Bank governor and Registrar of Banks Kuben Naidoo said in Parliament on Wednesday. Naidoo gave an update on the state of the bank in a briefing to the standing committee on finance. He said the confidence that the bank could be salvaged was lower than when it was placed under curatorship — but this was not to say that it was zero. VBS Mutual Bank was placed under curatorship in March when it faced liquidity challenges because it had accepted short-term deposits and made long-term loans. It had also relied to heavily on deposits from municipalities. "Given what we know following two months of curatorship and preliminary investigations, the probability of salvaging this bank is lower," Naidoo said. The Reserve Bank has provided a guarantee to retail deposits under R50,000. Naidoo explained that it had taken a long time to put a mechanism in p...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.