The JSE has levied two R7.5 million fines against former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste as well as barring him from serving as a director for two decades, due to failures at the helm that prompted SA's biggest-ever accounting scandal.
Jooste has informed the JSE he does not agree with the decision and has challenged it, the JSE said in a statement, with the Financial Services Tribunal on Tuesday dismissing the suspension application, other than with regards to the fines.
The JSE said it is opposing Jooste's challenge, but the ruling on Tuesday means it is in a position to impose its public censure and bar him from holding any directorships.
The JSE said it had imposed two fines of R7.5 million, the maximum allowable. One is for releasing financial statements that did not comply with listing requirements, and contained incorrect, false and misleading statements, and the other is for a fictitious invoice that falsely inflated income by R376 million.
In August, the JSE fined Steinhoff's former CFO Ben la Grange R2 million and barred him from acting as a company director for 10 years, in part for processing that fictitious invoice. The handwritten note, allegedly given to La Grange by Jooste, was also used by SA Reserve Bank to convince a court to sign off on an order to attach Jooste's assets.
Jooste's abrupt resignation in December 2017 triggered a share price collapse and has been an existential threat to Steinhoff, which managed to settle multiple lawsuits against it. Despite this, firm still has debt of €10 billion (R185 billion), and is looking to reach a settlement with its creditors that would see them owning most of the company, and delisting.