Zim court recognises SME Bank liquidation

The High Court of Zimbabwe has recognised the liquidation of the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank in Namibia in a step that paves the way for the bank’s liquidators to recover the bank’s assets that may be in Zimbabwe.

The news outlet New Zimbabwe on Monday reported that High Court judge Siyabona Musithu granted an application by SME Bank liquidators Ian McLaren and Dave Bruni to be recognised as the bank’s liquidators in Zimbabwe.

Musithu also recognised the Namibian insolvency proceedings in respect of the SME Bank, declared that McLaren and Bruni are entitled to administer SME Bank assets located in Zimbabwe, and that they are allowed to approach the High Court of Zimbabwe to register and enforce judgements granted by Namibian courts.

The Metropolitan Bank of Zimbabwe (Metbank), which is a minority shareholder in the SME Bank, opposed the liquidators’ application, arguing it was legally flawed, time-barred, incompetent and that Namibia was not a designated country for the registration of foreign judgements under Zimbabwean law, New Zimbabwe reported.

However, Musithu dismissed all the preliminary objections before ruling in favour of the liquidators.