Moçambique Capitais gives assurances that court ruling does not affect Moza Banco’s activity

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Moçambique Capitais gives assurances that court ruling does not affect Moza Banco’s activity

1:54 CAT | 09 Apr 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Moçambique Capitais]

Moçambique Capitais has given assurances that the ruling by the Administrative Tribunal (TA) that annuls the decisions on the intervention in Moza Banco, one of the five largest banks, does not jeopardize Moza Banco’s activity, and admits that it is in contact with the central bank.

“This ruling, signed unanimously by the 16 counsellor judges, puts an end to the dispute between Moçambique Capitais and the central bank, and contacts are already underway with the competent entities in order to determine the best solution for all interested parties,” reads a statement to shareholders issued by Moçambique Capitais, to which Lusa had access this Wednesday.

“This process does not interfere with the normal functioning of Moza Banco’s current activity,” also guarantees the founding company of that bank, which was removed from its management when the Bank of Mozambique intervened in 2016, having then resorted to the courts.

“Moza Banco’s audited accounts currently show adequate compliance with prudential ratios, with significant funds deposited at the central bank, and major investments are underway to modernise electronic platforms, ensuring faster transactions in real time and greater security for customer assets,” reads the statement by Moçambique Capitais, dated 8 April, which outlines a “new framework” for the bank’s future.

The plenary session of the Administrative Tribunal upheld the ruling declaring null and void the administrative acts of the Bank of Mozambique in its intervention in Moza Banco, rejecting the central bank’s appeal.

According to the TA ruling to which Lusa had access, the issue at stake is the way in which the central bank carried out the intervention in Moza Banco – citing at the time the bank’s financial situation and its systemic risk – an intervention announced in a notice published on 14 November 2016, in the Boletim da República (BR – the Government Gazette).

READ: Mozambique: Court declares administrative acts in intervention at Moza Banco null and void – Lusa

“It is easy to see that it came into force and began to produce legal effects on 14 November 2016, when in fact Moza Banco was intervened by the Bank of Mozambique [BM] on 30 September. 2016, before the publication of the controversial notice,” reads the TA ruling of April 1, in response to an appeal against the same ruling by the previous instance, filed by the BM and by Moza Banco.

“Therefore, the appellant is mistaken and contradicts itself in his position when it argues that in order to legitimise Moza Banco’s intervention it was not necessary to publish the notice of the BM governor in the BR, however it proceeded to publish the relevant notice 44 days after its intervention,” adds the TA ruling, in which the first instance’s ruling is fully confirmed, in favour of Moçambique Capitais, a minority shareholder (around 3%), but which at the time was the majority shareholder and founder of the bank.

In 2016, Moza Banco came under the leadership of Kuhanha, the management company of the BM employees’ pension fund (currently holding over 60% of the share capital), following the intervention of the central bank, when it had the Portuguese Novo Banco [successor to Banco Espírito Santo] as one of the main shareholders (49%).

The TA ruling recalls that at the time of the intervention, Moçambique Capitais held a 51% shareholding in Moza Banco, worth 1,085,875,000 meticais (€15.5 million, at current exchange rates). However, this shareholding was now worth 217,175,000 meticais (€3.1 million), due to the “reduction in share capital immediately followed by an increase in share capital, with a consequent devaluation induced in the value of the share certificate, from 25,000 meticais to 5,000 meticais [€358 to €71.5]”.

The Administrative Tribunal ruling annuls “materially administrative acts”, such as “the intervention and the adoption of the extraordinary measure to restructure Moza Banco”, and the appointment of a board of directors.

Source: Lusa