Johannesburg Stock Exchange suspends telecom giant's shares as N1 trillion scandal continues

Reports reveal that an MTN spokesperson has confirmed that the telecom giant’s shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) have been suspended as at Monday morning.

According to a report by Fin24, Chris Maroleng, MTN Group executive for group corporate affairs revealed, by phone, that trading in the company’s shares had been suspended.

“We take note of the JSE’s decision to suspend MTN’s shares,” Maroleng said, according to the report.

The telecom giant’s share price has been under a great deal of pressure since it was confirmed last week that it had been fined $5.2 billion by Nigerian regulators for failing to disconnect up to five million unregistered SIM cards.

READ: 'Telecoms giant could lose license if fine is not paid' - report

The suspension of trading in the company’s shares also comes after MTN’s share price dropped by about 8% in trade on Monday, amidst unconfirmed reports by Lagos-based tabloid, The Vanguard, that MTN had agreed to pay the $5.2 billion fine to the NCC.

In related events, the JSE also announced on Friday that it had also begun its own investigation into MTN.

According to TimesLive, The JSE said it will be looking into trades before MTN’s SENS announcement to confirm if there had been possible insider trading.