The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) will resume the trading of shares next week minus three fungible securities, nearly a month after the local bourse was forced to suspend trades on allegations of speculative trading which resulted in the devaluation of the local currency. 

The three fungible securities that will not be allowed to trade are Old Mutual, PPC and Seed Co International which will have to trade on a to-be established foreign currency exchange, according to people familiar with the developments. The trio’s fungibility was suspended for a year in March.

“All is set for the resumption of trading. There are meetings underway to work out modalities on how the fungible shares will be traded on a foreign currency exchange,” a source said.

Here Is What You Need To Know

• Modalities on how the trades in the fungible securities will work are being worked out with a series of meetings being held this week, sources told Business Times.
• On June 26, the government announced the suspension of transactions on phone-based mobile money platforms and suspended trading on ZSE as part of a series of “prudent and coordinated interventions to deal with malpractices, criminality and economic sabotage” amid allegations the platforms were fuelling the rout of the local currency.
• Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana alleged there were “fake counters” on ZSE which are epitomised by the Old Mutual Implied Exchange rate (OMIR).

Read also: Zimbabwe Suspends Mobile Banking, Stock Exchange Trade

• Business Times heard yesterday that a series of meetings were held this week where it was resolved that trading resumes on Monday.
• The resumption of trading comes after the ruling Zanu-PF proposed the delisting of Old Mutual from the bourse and allow the counter to Zanu-PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa said fungibility has created an opportunity for the determination of foreign exchange rate in Zimbabwe to be determined from activities emanating from actions of speculators operating on the stock exchange.

Source — businesstimes

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
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