Toyota Financial Services and WesBank Referred to Competition Commission, Accused of Collusion

• Toyota Financial Services South Africa and WesBank have been accused of conspiring in connection with vehicle loans
• They were discovered to be engaged in an agreement where they provide customers with vehicle finance, thereby dividing the market
• The Competition Commission argues that the agreement does a disservice to customers, who should be benefitting from having the options that arise from competition

JOHANNESBURG - Toyota Financial Services (TFS) South Africa and WesBank have been accused of colluding in connection with vehicle loans. They were discovered to be engaged in an agreement where they provide customers with vehicle finance, thereby dividing the market.

The case has been referred to the Competition Commission, which has ascertained that WesBank and TFS SA disobeyed the Competition Act 89 of 1998, specifically section 4(1)(b)(ii).

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“FirstRand Bank Limited (FirstRand), through its WesBank division and TFS are involved in the provision of vehicle finance services. They are therefore supposed to compete.

They, however, concluded a shareholder agreement which contains clauses that prevent them from competing," the commission explained.

How TFS and Wesbank colluded

According to MyBroadband, the agreement in question prevents WesBank from providing vehicle finance for people who purchase Toyota vehicles from licensed dealerships, including Lexus and Hino models.

The Competition Commission argues that the agreement does a disservice to customers, who should be benefitting from having the options that arise from competition. They added that companies who benefitted from the agreement would be fined 10% of their earnings, eNCA reports.

TFS has three shareholders who each have a one-third stake in the company, namely Toyota Motor Finance (UK), FirstRand and TSA Investment Holdings.

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Reactions to TFS and WesBank collusion scandal

@OdirileSOuL believes:

"In China the executives would be facing jail time."

@Lali_villager remarked:

"Wesbank is a syndicate on its own. 10% is absolutely nothing compared to the money they steal from customers monthly."

@Mbuso_Wenkosi asked:

"So are our cars paid of automatically?"

@kenna500000 said:

"We are being crooked by capitalists here. This collusion is criminality to our pockets."

@Ms_Kefilwe shared:

"Capitalists catching fire."

Steinhoff scandal: R24 billion settlement to be paid to shareholders

Speaking of business news, Briefly News previously reported that the Western Cape High Court has finally reached a decision in the Steinhoff accounting scandal. As a result, the company has to pay a settlement of R24 billion, which will be divided amongst various shareholders.

After years of court appearances and legal disputes, this decision has been ruled, both in the Netherlands, where Steinhoff's international holdings are based, and South Africa.

The deadline for payment has not been clearly stipulated. However, the total amount of claims facing Steinhoff is R180 billion, meaning they currently only have to pay 13.3% of their total claims back.

Source: Briefly News