Court orders reinstatement of fired Old Mutual CEO

Shares slide in South Africa's oldest insurer as Peter Moyo prepares to return to work.

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(Breaking News) A court in South Africa ordered insurance giant Old Mutual to temporarily reinstate its fired chief executive officer Peter Moyo on Tuesday.

The judge presiding over the case at the South Gauteng High Court branded the dismissal “unlawful” and blocked the 174 year-old financial services firm from hiring a new CEO.

Moyo was suspended after less than a year in charge by the board for alleged conflicts of interest involving his investment firm NMT Capital, which is 20% owned by Old Mutual.

The conflict relates to dividends paid by NMT Capital, in which an Old Mutual subsidiary is the only institutional investor.

Moyo denies all wrongdoing, and now awaits a decision by the insurer on whether it will appeal the judgment.

Shares in South Africa’s No.2 insurer had dipped around 5.6% at 15:00 GMT following the ruling.

Following the ruling, Moyo, who was sacked by the company in May, will return to work at 8am on Wednesday morning, his lawyer confirmed.

In a video posted on Twitter, Moyo’s lawyer said it was a “complete vindication” for his client “after his name was tarnished.”

Moyo’s daughter said her father was a “man of principle” and expressed appreciation that “the court was on the right side of the law today.”

 

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