Stablecoins are here to stay says BlackRock
(Adds details, context)
By Libby George and Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, June 26 (Reuters) - A Nigerian judge on Wednesday
adjourned until Oct. 29 a case to resolve a $2 billion tax
dispute between South African telecoms company MTN Group
MTNJ.J and Nigeria's attorney general.
The attorney general has demanded MTN pay the $2 billion in
September. The company has said the tax demand is without merit
and the attorney general has exceeded his powers in making the
request. Lawyers for the government requested the adjournment.
Nigeria is MTN's biggest market, with 58 million users in
2018 and accounting for a third of the South African firm's core
profit. But the Nigerian business has faced challenges, ranging
from the tax demand to a fine over unregistered SIM cards.
MTN Nigeria MTNN.LG , the company's local unit, listed in
Lagos in May in a 2 trillion naira ($6.5 billion) flotation and
became the second-largest stock on the bourse by market value.
The listing followed MTN Group's agreement with Nigerian
regulators to settle most of its long-running disputes.
MTN said it would sell more shares to the public and
increase local ownership in MTN Nigeria once the tax row was
resolved.
MTN agreed in December to make a $53 million payment to
resolve a separate dispute in Nigeria after the central bank
ordered the company and its lenders to bring back to Nigeria
$8.1 billion it was alleged to have repatriated using improperly
issued paperwork between 2007 and 2008.
The settlement ended a four-month row that had hammered
MTN's share price in Johannesburg.