African Bank Investments: FSB to investigate share price surge

The Financial Services Board (FSB) would probe trading in African Bank Investments Limited (Abil) shares, the regulator said yesterday. Abil climbed 11 percent to R12.20 on April 23, the biggest gain since March 2002. Two days later, the provider of unsecured loans said it was in talks to offer loans to the clothing retailer Edcon’s clients. “We can confirm the FSB is investigating trading in African Bank shares,” FSB spokeswoman Tembisa Marele said without giving details. An Abil spokeswoman said the lender was not immediately able to comment. Abil shares gained 1.6 percent to close at R8.24 yesterday. The stock has declined 33.5 percent since Abil said on May 2 that it would report an interim headline loss of at least R3.1 billion. – Bloomberg