The far-reaching hand of banking regulation may be a hurdle too far for Vardospan in its bid to buy the South African branch of Habib Overseas Bank. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that the Reserve Bank had written to the finance minister recommending that he block the merger. The report said the central bank cited concerns over Salim Essa's and Hamza Farooqui's income and tax declarations. They had set up Vardospan, a joint venture between Cinq Holdings and Pearl Capital. Through Vardospan, Essa and Faroooqui had bid for the South African stake of Habib Bank. In November last year, they paid R450-million to acquire the business. Last month, the Competition Commission approved the merger "without conditions". Essa, a well-known Gupta associate, and the Reserve Bank did not respond to requests for comment. Political analyst Daniel Silke says the battles over the licensing of banks and the regulatory resistance are all "in parallel to political battles that are playing themselves out as...
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