Johannesburg - Barclays Plc’s South African unit said its investment banking head Stephen Van Coller has been subpoenaed to appear before a commission of inquiry.
Van Coller will appear with former chief financial officer Jacques Schindehutte next week in Cape Town at an inquiry examining the collapse in 2011 of real-estate company Pinnacle Point Group Ltd., Business Day reported earlier, citing Schindehutte.
“As the matter is now before the commission for consideration, we will comment once a finding is rendered,” Johannesburg-based Absa Capital said in an e-mailed statement today.
The investment banking unit of Barclays Africa Group Ltd. didn’t specify the commission or give further details.
Absa was forced in 2008 to acquire stakes in Pinnacle Point and three other companies after South African brokerage Cortex Securities, for which Absa was the clearing bank, defaulted on payments for the single-stock futures linked to the four shares.
Absa in 2010 agreed to sell its Pinnacle stake after taking a 931 million-rand ($92 million) writedown on the investment. - Bloomberg News