Steinhoff to pay over R24 billion to settle claims

The Cape Town High Court has approved over R24 billion in settlement claims in the Steinhoff case on Monday.

The ruling allows the multinational company to put more than two years of legal wrangling which involved R184 billion in claims to rest.

The Steinhoff crash is estimated to have eroded more than R200 billion off the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and wiped out pension funds of millions of people due to grave governance breaches.

Steinhoff crash eroded over R200 billion off the JSE:

In October 2020, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) fined former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste and three others at least R241 million for insider trading-related breaches.

Jooste was set to pay nearly R123 million following the breaches that date back to 2017 and he was also ordered to pay the authority’s costs incurred while investigating the matter.

The breaches were in respect of share transactions in Steinhoff International Holdings during November and December.

The authority found that on November 30, 2017, shortly before the much-publicised significant decrease in the market value of Steinhoff shares, Jooste was privy to Steinhoff-related inside information.

Jooste disclosed some of the information in a “warning SMS” encouraging four individuals close to him to dispose of their Steinhoff shares prior to the publication of the information to the rest of the market.

Three recipients acted on his disclosure and encouragement and sold their shares in Steinhoff.

FSCA fines Mr Markus Jooste and three others a total of R241 million for insider trading related breaches: https://t.co/ftat2OZ41F

— FSCA (@FSCA_ZA) October 30, 2020