Abstract
The Zimbabwean financial sector has witnessed financial institutions failures and placing these institutions under curatorship has been the solution. In most cases curators have not been able to bring the banks to the original position instead they have fast tracked the liquidation of these institutions. Since 2004, more than 15 financial institutions have been placed under curatorship by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Accountants have been found to be prominent appointed curators and they have been found to facilitate the liquidation of these institutions rather than resuscitating them and as a result corporate governance has been found to be in dilemma. Curatorship has been found to be a lucrative business for accountants and lawyers whose main jobs have been to facilitate the winding up of companies rather than turning them around. The costs of placing a financial institution under curator have been high to such an extent that huge sums of money have been paid which could have been channelled towards turning around it. Curators in most cases as indicated in this study have not helped financial institutions to perform better instead they have worsened it.The paper used a document review research method to show how corporate governance has been placed in dilemma by appointing accountants as curators and how they have facilitated the winding up of these institutions rather than bringing them back to position. Article Type: Discussion paper Keywords: curatorship, paradox, dilemma, financial institution DOI : 10.7176/PPAR/9-9-01 Publication date :September 30 th 2019
Highlights
Since 2004, more than 15 financial institutions have been placed under curatorship by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
This paper is based on abridged cases among many of corporate governance issues pertaining to curatorship in Zimbabwe which most of the financial institutions had paid large amounts of money to curators
Findings and Discussion 3.1 Century Discount House Limited (CDH) The discount house was closed on 2 January 2004 and its Banking Licence was cancelled after a determination by The Reserve Bank that the institution was insolvent and was facing serious liquidity problems
Summary
Since 2004, more than 15 financial institutions have been placed under curatorship by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. This was due to the fact that they had to meet new stringent capital requirements. Empirical studies show that most curators have facilitated the fast demise of these institutions they have been appointed to manage. This brings us to the fact that corporate governance is being short changed by both the authorities who appoint curators and the curators. A curator is roped in after a financial institution faces problems and to protect the investments of depositors, curator is sought to look for fresh capital injection and strategies to serve the financial firm. Curatorship is aimed at protecting the interests of depositors and creditors, while the curator determines the full extent of the problems faced by the financial institutions before recommending the way forward but this is not the case in most of the time
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
