The Bank of Baroda is set to close the Gupta family’s bank accounts by the end of March following pressure from its parent company in India. Between February and September 2016, First National Bank, Absa, Standard Bank and Nedbank closed the bank accounts of the Gupta family and their companies. The Bank of China followed suit. The family are viewed as “politically exposed”. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan revealed in court papers filed in October 2016 that R7bn in “suspicious and unusual” transactions involving members of the Gupta family and their companies had been reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre. Business Day understands that the Bank of Baroda is contractually obliged by its parent company to close the family’s accounts by the end of March. The parent company is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) — as are China and SA. The FATF is a global policy-making body set up to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. It has given SA three months to ...
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