South Africa’s largest retail banks have become embroiled in a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture involving the Gupta family, who were close allies of former president Jacob Zuma. Last week, representatives testified to the political pressure they faced to continue to provide financial services to the Guptas’ businesses. In 2016, the country’s big four banks decided to close Gupta-owned bank accounts after they detected several suspicious transactions, according to reports.
Notwithstanding these recent developments, 2017 was a good year for South Africa’s banks, which enjoyed an improvement in their fortunes, mainly due to better economic conditions. The country posted a higher than expected gross domestic product increase of 1.3%.
Standard Bank Group, the largest bank in South Africa by assets, grew its total assets by 15% year-on-year, while ABSA Group’s total assets increased by 17.4%. FirstRand, in third place by total assets, saw the greatest increase of the top five South African banks, with an impressive 19.9% growth.
But it was Capitec Bank Holdings, in sixth place, that witnessed the biggest rise – in both total assets (28.3%) and Tier 1 capital (29%) year-on-year.
All data sourced from www.thebankerdatabase.com
