Johannesburg - Tim Store, the curator of the failed Regal Bank and chairman of Deloitte & Touche, said yesterday that depositors who had less than R50 000 invested in the bank might start receiving the full value of their savings from next week.
Deposits in Regal amount to R600 million while at least half of the 1 100 depositors have deposits of under R50 000.
Depositors with more than R50 000 tied up in Regal would more than likely receive between 60c and 70c in the rand as the Reserve Bank agreed to fund only shortfalls for depositors holding less than R50 000.
Provident funds that were held in a single account at Regal would be treated as one depositor, meaning that investors would stand to lose a large portion of their pension savings.
Store said it was unfortunate but added that he had to comply with a legal recommendation that Regal had a lawful relationship with only one account holder.
More than 300 people together have about R11,7 million invested in an umbrella fund held as a single deposit at the bank.
There may be some grace for investors and depositors if Investec and Store can agree on a scheme of arrangement, by which Investec would acquire Regal's remaining assets and
liabilities.
Investec would issue a bond certificate guaranteeing depositors their full savings in 10 years at an interest rate of 4 percent while they may also have the option of cashing their bonds in early at a discount.
"We're still on track and will be busy till the end of the week. We must put figures on the table and work out the terms of the bond and then decide whether this is acceptable or not. We will hopefully have a deal by Monday," Store said.
The Reserve Bank said yesterday it might release the report into the events leading up to the curatorship of Regal Treasury Private Bank in the second half of December.
The bank supervision department of the Reserve Bank was obtaining advice on how to proceed with various matters, including the legal ramifications regarding some of Regal's directors, Christo Wiese, the registrar of banks, said without elaborating.