High court dismisses 3Sixty Life appeal
Underwriter under final curatorship
3Sixty Life, the underwriter linked to the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), has had its application for leave to appeal against its final curatorship dismissed by the South Gauteng High Court
On September 30, judge Fiona Dippenaar ordered that 3Sixty Life be placed under final curatorship after an almost year-long battle against the Prudential Authority (PA), the finance regulator that originally had the firm placed under provisional curatorship.
Dippenaar also named Tinashe Frank Mashoko of BDO SA as 3Sixty Life’s new curator after cancelling the appointment of Yashoda Ram, the former head of actuarial services at the same firm.
However, in an electronic judgment handed down on November 7, Dippenaar dismissed 3Sixty Life’s appeal application with costs, including the cost of two counsel. 3Sixty Life’s acting CEO, Khandani Msibi, told Business Day in a WhatsApp message that the company intended taking the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
“It is going to the SCA,” said Msibi without providing a date for when 3Sixty Life might launch its next appeal application. “The status quo remains.”
3Sixty Life, which is ultimately owned by Numsa’s investment arm, was initially placed under provisional curatorship in December 2021 for failing to maintain adequate capital and solvency requirements. The underwriter has argued from the beginning that it should not have been placed under provisional curatorship as it says it had a plan to boost its capital levels.
That plan was largely premised on the proposed transfer of 53 properties of its parent, Doves Group.
However, the PA did not regard that strategy as acceptable. –