Finally, 20 months after the collapse of SA’s largest unsecured lender, the Reserve Bank has unveiled advocate John Myburgh’s damning autopsy of what felled African Bank (Abil).Ultimately, the report contains many surprises — including the fact that CEO Leon Kirkinis believed the bank was “wrongly” placed under curatorship. Yet Myburgh concluded that Kirkinis “is mistaken if he believes either that the bank had a future or that he could remain CEO”. Myburgh’s findings included that the bank broke numerous laws and rules, including “recklessly” lending R1.4bn to Ellerines when it knew the odds were vanishingly small that this would ever be repaid. Yet, as the Financial Mail predicted in recent weeks, he stops short of recommending criminal action against the directors.The report also lays bare how African Bank’s ride over the cliff was largely because of the cult of personality that surrounded Kirkinis, who “dominated” the bank’s board.“In considering the personality of Kirkinis, the...
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