COMPANY PROFILE
2015
Standard Bank SA
+27 (0)11 636 9111 | www.standardbank.com
company profile
Number one on the continent Editorial: Ajuanne Payne
The most successful bank in the history of South African financial services, Standard Bank has continued to go from strength-to-strength over its 150 years in operation. In this issue we snapshot the operating principals that have contributed to the company’s prestigious track record and the industry recognition the bank continues to receive...
When you think of the banking sector in South Africa and, in fact, Africa itself, Standard Bank is the first name that comes to mind as a true pillar of the African financial services sector and one of South Africa’s oldest companies. Standard Bank Group can trace its roots back to 1862 over 150 years ago and is the largest banking group in South Africa. Headquartered in Johannesburg, the company employs over 53,000 staff members at a group level and is operational in 32 countries globally and 19 across the African continent. With such a long and successful history in the financial services industry, Standard Bank ended 2014 on a high – winning a whole host of industry awards and with recorded revenues up
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by 15% to R84.24 billion at a group level. The company operates out of its three main business units; personal & business banking, corporate & investment banking and wealth/ liberty. The Standard Bank of South Africa is the largest operating entity within the group and the base from which the company began its international expansion in the early 90’s, with the acquisition of the ANZ Grindlays Bank in 1992 and its operations in eight African countries.
INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT, LOCAL FOCUS One of the key contributing factors to Standard Bank’s continued success is its focus on local
Standard Bank SA
expertise in order to expand and secure its cross-border businesses. With a rise in the withdrawal of international lenders following the 2008 global economic crisis, the continent has seen a paralleled increase in demand for regional lenders that can provide the same level of world-class expertise. “The financing gap left by the European banks continues to manifest itself but we believe this provides an opportunity for Pan African banks such as Standard Bank to step up to the breach,” explains Gwen Mwaba, Group Executive Vice President, speaking at the 6th annual East Africa Trade and Commodity Conference last year. “Standard Bank aims to be the bank of choice in Africa and given the number of new clients
we’re on-boarding, particularly in the oil and gas sector, we expect the demand for locallygrown banking services to help propel us in to that position.” Using all their competitive advantages to the full, Standard Bank aims to be the financial services provider of choice for the swelling economies of the continent. The company offers the complementary benefits of being able to offer the same world-class levels of service as their international counterparts, while also being furnished with the local-knowledge that is so essential to any investor wishing to do business outside of its usual footprint.
AWARDS Not a year can go by without Standard Bank gaining the recognition of its peers and
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company profile
winning prestigious accolades and awards. The final quarter of 2014 saw Standard Bank scoop a host of awards – a demonstration of the strength of the bank’s position within the South African financial services industry. In FX Week’s 2014 survey of the global foreign exchange industry, Standard Bank Group was awarded Best Bank for South African Rand for the second consecutive year. As the benchmark for performance in the global FX industry, the FX Week Best Banks Awards are the most precise indicator of which institutions are leading the market, with analysis from banks, corporate treasurers and investors. The decision of the London-based publication to begin including the Rand in the awards in 2013 was a reflection of the growing importance of the South African Currency in the global trading arena. Richard de Roos, Head of Foreign Exchange
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at Standard Bank Group, explained further what the accolade means for the company: “This is certainly one of the premier awards for currency market makers across the foreign exchange trading industry so Standard Bank Group is very honoured to receive this recognition, particularly since we are one of a very small pool of regional banks to be included in the survey. “The fact that the Rand trades in the same time zone as the highly liquid and competitive European market is testament to the relevance and quality of Standard Bank Group’s trading and settlement capabilities. The stature and quality of the participants in this survey certainly make this award a very relevant one to the broader industry and an achievement for which Standard Bank Group is duly proud. “This award is not only a recognition of our relevance to the market but it also validates
Standard Bank SA our strategy to leverage our dominant position in our local franchise markets in order to extract liquidity for the purposes of solidifying our growing role in international currency markets,” says Mr de Roos. “The fact that we have been recognised by all the major participants in the market shows that our strategy is paying off.” As South Africa’s leading market maker and
“The financing gap left by the European banks continues to manifest itself but we believes this provides an opportunity for Pan African banks such as Standard Bank to step up to the breach” biggest Rand trader, Standard Bank’s strong footprint across the African continent means it is ideally situated to maximise on opportunities in all the regions it services and to work with investors both locally and across the globe. Standard Bank Group collected no less than 18 awards at the prestigious Sibos conference in Boston, USA in October 2014. Two of these were awarded to the bank at the EMEA Finance Magazine awards ceremony, one award; ‘Strongest Bank in South Africa’, from The Asian Banker and a total of 15 were won by the bank at the Global Finance Magazine awards ceremony for Global Finance Transaction Processing. “We are delighted to receive these awards from such prestigious publications,” explained Standard Bank Group’s Global Head of Transactional Products, Neil Surgey. “They provide further confirmation of the success of our client-focused strategy and desire to serve clients through our well-established physical
presence in Africa and our global connectivity that links clients to Africa.” Aside from this clean-sweep in October, the bank was also recognised in the same month as ‘Most Innovative Bank from Africa’ by The Banker Magazine. At a time when multi-national corporates are increasingly focusing on investment opportunities on the African continent, Standard Bank has the track-record and experience to provide the financial backing that is essential for the strong growth being seen across the African regions. The company has extensive sector expertise and strong, long-term relationships across the continent and is known for its innovative, tailor-made approach to the varying complexities of the cross-border financial markets. Standard Bank has continued the trend into this year and was named ‘Best Trade Finance Bank in Sub-Saharan Africa’ by Global Trade Review. This award further illustrates the
BEYOND
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Smart thinking. Secure solutions.
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Company profile
company’s successful approach to cross-border growth while maintaining local knowledge.
LOOKING AHEAD Over the past six months Standard Bank has gained the recognition of its peers across a plethora of industry awards and continues to demonstrate its strength to the global markets. Already this year, Africa’s largest pension fund, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), has chosen the company to provide a comprehensive range of investor services product solutions for its more than R1.5trillion of assets. Standard Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Sim Tshabalala explained the significance of this win in a statement in February of this year, “We are delighted that GEPF has entrusted Standard Bank to act as the sole custodian and recordkeeping agent for the Fund’s entire investment portfolio. This appointment further
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strengthens our longstanding partnership with Africa’s largest institutional investor.” Within the same week as this, the company partnered with Eskom to arrange a USD1.25 billion bond sale to international investors. Right at the end of 2014, Standard Bank played an important part in arranging the finance package for the ground-breaking Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project. With the Help of Standard Bank and 11 other financiers, Africa will see its largest wind farm to date built in Kenya in the next few years. The LTWP project will provide 300 MW of clean power to Kenya’s electricity grid, with total cost standing at around €623 million – the largest private investment in Kenya’s history. As one of the mandated lead arrangers for the project, Standard Bank will also be providing the interest rate hedge for the project and has played a key role in bringing private investment in to the burgeoning renewables energy
Standard Bank SA industry in Africa. An important aspect of supporting the fast rates of growth being seen across Africa socio-economically is financing essential infrastructure projects – and it is financial institutions such as Standard Bank that will pave the way to further development. “Power generation is a very relevant sector in East Africa at the moment, especially when one considers the energy shortfall and the important role that it plays in boosting economic growth,” explained George Kotsovos, power and infrastructure finance executive “Standard Bank is proud to have been able to offer its expertise to contribute towards boosting the generating capacity of a fastgrowing economy like Kenya, which remains the economic power house of the region.” Standard Bank is evidently the go-to institution for the biggest and most influential deals in the country and with such a long and illustrious history, it would be hard to imagine the African financial services sector without the presence of its iconic banking giant.
After over 150 years of success and with steep growth predicted across the whole African continent in the next decade, the bank will continue to see ever increasing demand for its knowledge and a level of service unrivalled by the other localised banking groups that service the regions
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“The fact that we have been recognised by all the major participants in the market shows that our strategy is paying off”
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