Standard Bank Declines for Second Day After Breaking Credit Law
Renee Bonorchis of Bloomberg:
March 27 — Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest bank, fell for a second day after the lender admitted to breaking South African credit laws.
“Whenever there is contravention of the rules it points to a failure in risk management and compliance,” Jan Meintjes, a director at Gryphon Asset Management Ltd. in Cape Town, said in an e-mailed response to questions today. “This should raise some concerns.”
Standard Bank’s share price fell 3.10 rand, or 3.8 percent, 78 rand, after sliding 6.3 percent yesterday, the worst performer on the five-member FTSE/JSE Africa Banks Index. The stock has lost 17 percent over the past 12 months, giving Standard Bank a market value of 119 billion rand ($12.4 billion).
Sim Tshabalala, chief executive officer of Standard Bank’s South African unit, said yesterday the lender was “sorry and embarrassed” for contravening South Africa’s National Credit Act by automatically increasing the limits on some clients’ credit cards. The lender had raised limits on 61,000 customer accounts without permission from clients, 702 Radio reported.
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