STUART THEOBALD: Financial institutions need our support
The biggest threat banks face now is a political one, intimately connected to the capture of the state by the Guptas and their associates, writes Stuart Theobald
Alleged foreign exchange collusion is proving a handy bludgeon in the political war against SA’s banks. Temperatures and tempers are very hot after the banks’ closure of the Gupta family’s bank accounts over fears of money laundering. Any morsel of wrongdoing is quickly leapt upon to undermine banks’ credibility, to prove that they are at least no better than the Guptas themselves. This political war on the banks is a threat to our key economic institutions. It is precisely because the banks are well regulated that they shut the Guptas’ accounts — only poorly regulated banks will truck with any client. This attack on the banks for applying world-class oversight should be resisted. The allegations in the collusion case are serious and credible. They should be tested and, if proven, appropriate punishment should be meted out. Politically, however, it has to be done professionally and rationally, in order to clearly demarcate it from the wider Gupta-Zuma assault on the banks. Political...
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