Huge Group directors, who were last year fined by the JSE for flouting its rules, have lodged an appeal against the fine.
Both the chairman and CEO were fined R5 million each last year, in their personal capacity, for breaking JSE rules.
The fine, levied against chairman Anton Potgieter and CEO James Herbst, last November, was hailed as unprecedented and a step forward for governance issues at listed companies.
Herbst and Potgieter previously declined to comment, saying it is a “private matter”, and were unavailable this morning.
Both directors were censured for not following the bourse's rules after buying future shares in Huge, worth R8 million, which were then sold back to the company. However, minority shareholders were not informed of the deal, and had no say in the matter.
As a result, the Johannesburg-based bourse found the directors had contravened its rules around related-party transactions, and fined the two men in their personal capacity.
Huge bought the 12.3 million shares between July and October last year, at an average price of 360c each. The company's shares closed at 87c on Friday.
The appeal has been lodged with the Financial Services Board, and the JSE has been cited as a respondent in the fine, which means the bourse would have to defend the penalty, the JSE says.
This morning, the Financial Services Board was unable to say when the appeal would be heard, or at what stage it is within the process.
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