Reserve Bank puts Steinhoff saga to bed

Following years of investigations into Steinhoff’s collapse, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has reached a full and final settlement with its successor, Ibex.

This comes after Ibex forfeited R6.3 billion with interest to the state, which saw the SARB drop all enforcement actions against the company.

The start of Steinhoff’s downfall came in 2017, when accounting irregularities were discovered when the company’s auditors refused to sign off on its financial statements.

That led to the start of police and regulatory investigations in both Europe and South Africa. A forensic probe by auditor PwC uncovered €6.5 billion of irregular transactions with eight firms over eight years.

The discovery of the accounting irregularities led to the immediate and sharp decline in Steinhoff’s share price on both the Frankfurt and Johannesburg stock exchanges, eroding approximately 90% of the company’s market capitalisation.

Between 2018 and 2023, complex multi-jurisdictional debt restructuring and settlement processes were implemented to prevent an uncontrolled liquidation and mitigate the company’s financial distress.

These processes resulted in Steinhoff fully repaying over R28 billion owed to South African banks in 2018 and compensation to other South African investors amounting to around R18.5 billion as part of the Global Settlement.

The Global Settlement involved a total settlement value of approximately R29.6 billion at the time, and was approved and sanctioned by international and local courts.

South African creditors and banks were able to exit and recover all or most of their money, as foreign creditors agreed to a restructuring of their debt and deferral of their rights.

Steinhoff changed its name to Ibex Investment Holdings in 2023, the same year its yearslong dispute with the Reserve Bank started.

SARB versus Steinhoff

In early 2023, various disputes arose between Ibex and the Reserve Bank relating to administrative actions the SARB took against the company.

These actions were related to various alleged contraventions of South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations.

The disputes between the two parties resulted in multiple legal proceedings, including the intervention of at least one of the Ibex Group’s financial creditors. 

One of these disputes involved the forfeiture for the benefit of the state of an amount of approximately R6.3 billion. Other disputes concerned blocking and prohibition orders that the SARB had issued over Ibex’s funds and assets.

On Thursday, 24 July, the Reserve Bank announced that the two parties had resolved all of their disputes in a comprehensive settlement.

The SARB said it considered public interest and its mandate to enforce the Exchange Control Regulations in reaching this conclusion.

This settlement saw Ibex forfeit R6.3 billion, plus interest, of its funds to the state. In turn, the SARB withdrew all further enforcement actions.

Prohibition orders on Ibex shares in Pepkor Holdings were also lifted. On 21 July 2025, Ibex announced that it will exit its 28% stake in Pepkor.

“Both the SARB and the Ibex Group consider the settlement reasonable, proportionate and justifiable in light of the complex and competing interests,” the central bank said.

The Reserve Bank said it and Ibex consider the final settlement of this dispute to be in the best interests of South Africa.