Banks defend progress on inclusivity
But black organisations call for faster transformation
Three of SA’s major banks as well as its savings and investment institutions have defended their achievements on transformation, while acknowledging much more could be done. They stressed the importance of well-regulated, large and stable financial institutions as a key facilitator of economic growth and investment and for protecting people’s savings. But the views of Barclays Africa, Standard Bank, FirstRand and the Association of Savings and Investment SA (Asisa) were not fully supported by all 22 entities that spoke at the hearing on financial sector transformation run by Parliament’s finance and trade and industry committees on Tuesday. MPs heard that black ownership in Barclays Africa stood at 17.36% with a greater share due to become available when Barclays divests its shareholding. FirstRand said blacks owned 36.5%, while Standard Bank emphasised the spread of its share ownership among institutional investors and pension funds in which ordinary citizens invested their savings...
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