REGULATION VACUUM
KHAYA SITHOLE: Digital age creates need for universal laws
As a short seller, Viceroy operates in one of the less regulated avenues of financial markets
In the age of instant news and rapid social media, protecting a brand from negative perception and publicity has evolved into a fundamental business challenge. The viral nature of social media posts means a company’s brand is always one faulty Tweet away from a publicity crisis. The problem with social media is that they operate in a regulatory vacuum where the proliferation of fake and unauthenticated stories can prevail long before the affected companies have a chance to respond. A classic example of this phenomenon relates to Viceroy, which came to prominence following the Steinhoff saga. Since then, Viceroy has garnered an ability to send capital markets into a tailspin simply by releasing a report on a company. This was exhibited in the Capitec matter, where the Viceroy report caused dramatic shifts in the Capitec share price. As a short seller, Viceroy operates in one of the less regulated avenues of financial markets. This regulatory vacuum has the potential to cause more har...
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