Criticized by South Africa's Treasury, Short-Seller Defends Work
- Viceroy boss says firm consulted widely for report on Capitec
- Its report attracted criticism from Treasury, market analysts
A Capitec bank branch in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Photographer: Sipho Maluka/Sunday Sun/Gallo Images/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Short-seller Viceroy Research said South Africa’s National Treasury may have been too quick to jump to conclusions when it called for an international investigation into the group for its allegations against Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd.
A Viceroy report on Tuesday that said Capitec faced significant losses because it concealed impairments to its loan book, sending the bank’s shares tumbling -- and profiting Viceroy. The Treasury reacted by saying that regulators should check whether Viceroy “transgressed any of their market conduct and market abuse laws that aim to protect investors.”