AYO Technology Solutions said a censure and R1.5 million fine by the JSE was causing “significant and irreparable harm” to its business, despite the company’s co-operation, and legal advice was being sought on the next step.
The JSE said yesterday that AYO’s application to the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) to have a JSE decision to censure and fine AYO R1.5m suspended, had been dismissed by the Judge LTC Harms, deputy chairman of the FST.
On December 9, 2022 AYO applied to the tribunal for an order suspending the JSE’s censure decision. On the same day, AYO also applied for a reconsideration of the decisions of the JSE.
The JSE said yesterday it will oppose AYO’s reconsideration application.
It said an investigation into the conduct of individuals that presided at AYO during the period of its listing was still ongoing.
AYO said it believed the JSE should have waited until the outcome of its FST application for a reconsideration of the JSE decision, before publishing the censure and fine.
The JSE’s censure revolved around transactions and agreements with AYO’s holding company and material shareholder, African Equity Empowerment Investment Holdings, and/or AEEI’s associates and/or subsidiaries of AYO between 2017 and 2019.
The JSE said the “transactions did not comply with the peremptory requirements for transactions with related parties stipulated in section 10 of the Listings Requirements”.
AYO said it would challenge the appropriateness of the fine as the JSE previously fined AYO R6.5m, in AYO’s submission, “for the same alleged contraventions of the JSE Listings Requirements”.
The application for a reconsideration of the JSE’s decision would likely only be decided by the FST in the coming months, AYO said.
“AYO’s attorneys received notification of the FST’s decision not to uphold AYO’s suspension application at 5.27pm on December 21, 2022. The JSE, without notice to AYO or our attorneys, proceeded to publish the censure at 9.12am today, effectively depriving AYO of the opportunity fully to consider the FST’s decision and to seek legal advice in relation thereto,” the company said.
“The JSE, knowing that the publication of the censure is a hotly disputed issue on which AYO would seek legal advice and would in all probability bring urgent proceedings to prevent same, clearly decided to thwart any right that AYO may choose to exercise by proceeding to publish the censure this morning, hours after AYO was notified of the FST’s decision not to uphold AYO’s suspension application,” AYO said.
AYO said it found the JSE’s actions “extremely disappointing”, given the JSE’s investigation had spanned a period of more than three years and was still ongoing.
AYO said the detail of the censure was the subject of an application before the FST, and it therefore could not comment on these details.
BUSINESS REPORT