Commercial court mooted

Published: 03 February 2014

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is lobbying for the establishment of a Commercial Court in a frantic bid to accelerate the settling of commercial and banking-related cases, a development that will likely boost depositors' confidence.

Presenting the 2014 Monetary Policy Statement last week, acting RBZ Governor Dr Charity Dhliwayo said there was a need to create an institution that would be expeditious in settling financial cases.

Dr Dhliwayo noted that the existing court system was taking too long to deal with such matters, in the process prejudicing aggrieved depositors.

A number of financial institutions, namely ReNaissance Merchant Bank (RMB), Trust Bank Corporation Limited and Interfin Bank, have been arraigned before courts, but very little progress has been made in settling their cases.

In the process, some of the banks have been put under curatorship with the depositors failing to access their money locked up in the institutions.

Currently, a court battle is looming where the Depositors' Protection Board (DPB) is pushing for the finalisation of the liquidation of Trust Bank after the High Court gave the bank a two-week reprieve.

The DPB was appointed as the bank's provisional liquidator on December 18 2013 and the board was supposed to expedite the payment of claims to over 3 000 depositors.

"Currently commercial and banking-related cases are taking long to be settled through the court system. In order to expedite the settling of these disputes, there is need to establish a commercial court dedicated to adjudicating commercial and banking-related cases," said Dr Dhliwayo.

The acting governor said the establishment of the commercial court was a top priority for the central bank hence consultation work would begin soon. Establishment of the institution is going to be done under new provisions to the proposed amendment to the Banking Act.

"The Reserve Bank will with immediate effect engage the relevant authorities and stakeholders to address this issue (establishment of a commercial court)," said Dr Dhliwayo.

- sundaymail