Editor's Note: Banks’ Gupta conundrum
Pandora's box of Gupta deals
SA’s banks are poised at a legal crossroads: should they blow the lid on exactly what the Gupta family did, or should they keep their powder dry in case the family takes legal action later? Within days, the banks must file legal papers in the lawsuit lodged last month by finance minister Pravin Gordhan, in which he included Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) records detailing R6.8bn of "suspicious transactions" involving the family.These transactions, it seems, led SA’s banks to ditch the Guptas as clients. It sparked a political backlash as the family’s lackeys demanded the banks provide "answers". This was a predictable response: after all, if your business model is crony capitalism, you have to be able to wield this influence when you need it.So Gordhan is now asking a judge to make a ruling clarifying that he isn’t actually entitled to intervene in the relationship between banker and client.Only, the bankers are still undecided if they should take up Gordhan’s invitation to dis...
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