The trouble with state-owned banks
Unless the state can show that it is determined to root out corruption and mismanagement of its entities, it would be fair to suggest that talk of a state-owned bank should be put on hold
It is pleasing to note that the past weeks have been associated with growing scrutiny of the banking sector. The ongoing deliberations have highlighted the need for the transformation of the sector and brought to the fore the debate around the need, or otherwise, for publicly owned banks. Advocates for state-owned banks suggest that it is only through state participation that this largely untransformed sector can reflect the majority's involvement in the financial industry. Unfortunately for the government, the discourse on state ownership of banks is happening at the wrong time, as it comes when public trust in state-owned entities is critically low.Recurrent corporate governance squabbles, lack of transparency and the in-your-face inefficiencies in state-owned institutions like the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, SAA and the SABC have seriously compromised their ability to discharge their mandate and have deepened the general public scepticism about the governance of state-...
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