The Bank of Namibia (BoN) on Wednesday approached the High Court seeking a final order to wind up the operations of Trustco Bank Namibia, which it claims to be commercially insolvent.
Trustco Bank Namibia, Trustco Group Holdings, Collexia (Pty) Payment Association of Namibia and the Ministry of Finance have been cited as respondents in the application.
Trustco Bank Namibia has until the 9th of December to oppose the application.
The latest development comes after BoN in September announced that the liquidation application of Trustco Bank Namibia culminates from a series of regulatory engagements and interventions that have failed to restore the bank’s governance and viability to acceptable regulatory levels since 2020.
Trustco Bank Namibia, owned by Trustco Group Holdings (TGH), has in turn approached the High Court to review several directives and decisions issued by BoN.
Trustco claims that during the last two years of correspondence between Trustco Bank, Trustco Group Holdings, and the Bank of Namibia, the central bank has denied Trustco the opportunity for its bank to enter full commercial banking operations, even after the group offered to capitalise on the bank’s balance sheet by a further N$1 billion.
The troubled financial institution claims the Bank of Namibia’s directives and opinions were unconstitutional.
Trustco Bank Namibia has been operating in the Namibian market since December 2016, when it was granted a commercial banking licence by BoN after acquiring Fides Bank.
