Nedbank to pay Transnet R600m to settle swap dispute

By Adelaide Changole and Ntando Thukwana, Bloomberg 

Nedbank Group has agreed to pay Transnet R600 million ($34.8 million) in a confidential commercial settlement, ending a year-long legal dispute over interest-rate swaps.

The settlement, made without any admission of liability, follows efforts by both parties to avoid prolonged litigation and preserve their business relationship, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The agreement brings to a close a case launched by Transnet and South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which had sought to recover money the logistics firm “unduly paid” to Nedbank in 2015 and 2016 swap transactions.

The SIU and Transnet alleged the bank made more than R2.7 billion in profit from the deals.

Nedbank denied wrongdoing, saying its sales margin was market-related and that its actual gain amounted to less than R43 million.

The swaps were concluded under the advice of Regiments Capital, a firm linked to the