SOUTH Africa’s big four banks have been fined R125m by the Reserve Bank for failing to have appropriate measures to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica).
Standard Bank was slammed with the highest financial penalty of R60m, FirstRand was hit with R30m, Nedbank R25m and Absa R10m.
Standard Bank was found to have failed to meet its obligations to report cash transactions above R24,999.99 to the financial intelligence centre. It was also criticised for slack controls for detecting property associated with terrorist activities.
The bank said in a statement it had taken “immediate remedial action to address the issues identified” and initiated a programme to address the findings.
Absa, FirstRand and Nedbank were also penalised for keeping inadequate customer verification details and transactional records.
In terms of Fica, the Reserve Bank is tasked to supervise and enforce compliance with Fica rules to ensure that banks have controls to deal with money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism.
However, the Reserve Bank said the fines did not mean that South Africa’s big four banks had in any way facilitated transactions involving money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
All the big-four banks were directed to take remedial action to address weaknesses when it comes to identifying and verifying customers’ details.
Earlier in the year, Standard Bank plc in the UK was hammered with a £7.6m fine by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority for failures in its money laundering controls and procedures over corporate customers connected to politically exposed persons.
Source: Business Day
Showing posts with label ABSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABSA. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Probe into Absa takeover needed
President Jacob Zuma must appoint a commission of inquiry into Barclays bank's takeover of Absa Group [JSE:ASA] in 2005 and its link to the arms deal, activist and author Terry Crawford-Browne said on Monday.
"As a former international banker, I informed both the British and South African governments as early as October 1999 that the Barclays bank loan agreements for the (British defence company) BAE arms deal contracts would be fraudulent," he said in a statement.
"I also repeatedly pleaded with the former minister of finance Trevor Manuel not to sign those agreements."
He said the investigation should consider the implications of foreign control over South Africa’s banking system, including what pressure was applied to Manuel to approve the "ill-considered" takeover of Absa.
"The reality is that Absa, to the detriment of the South African public, has been milked by Barclays.
"Although Absa’s assets amount to only 4% of the total, Absa is reported to contribute 20% to total Barclays’ group revenue," he said.
"Surveys repeatedly find Absa to be the most expensive of South African banks. The former governor of the SA Reserve Bank noted as early as 2007 that he failed to see any benefits of Barclays' management at Absa."
Absa declined to comment on Crawford-Browne's claims, and presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj could not be reached for comment.
Crawford-Browne said he had made a submission to the Seriti Commission - an arms deal probe - to request an investigation of perjury charges against Manuel and Maria Ramos in connection with the arms deal.
"Ms Ramos was then director general of the Treasury, and under oath, affirmed that the 'agreements... are self-standing loan agreements with binding force and not dependent on any other agreement entered into by government.'
"This lie was exposed by the Barclays bank loan agreements," he alleged.
He said he had previously submitted affidavits that detailed how BAE paid bribes of more than R1.5bn to secure its arms deal contracts, to whom the bribes were paid and to which bank accounts the bribes were credited.
The documents also revealed the complicity in money laundering of the British government and both international and South African banks.
He claimed that when a court awarded him with the discovery of the international offer's negotiating team and financial working group papers for the arms deal, Manuel and Ramos refused to comply.
"The court had previously rejected their arguments that it 'was not in the national interest to reveal how the government conducts its international financial arrangements'," he said.
"This is pertinent given enthusiastic approval by the minister in 2005 when Barclays Bank took over Absa with a 55.5% shareholding. What threats did Barclays Bank make?" he asked.
He said Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale was a major shareholder in Absa and a former director.
Ramos was appointed chief executive of Absa in 2009.
"Clear conflicts of interest are evident," Crawford-Brown said.
Source: News 24
"As a former international banker, I informed both the British and South African governments as early as October 1999 that the Barclays bank loan agreements for the (British defence company) BAE arms deal contracts would be fraudulent," he said in a statement.
"I also repeatedly pleaded with the former minister of finance Trevor Manuel not to sign those agreements."
He said the investigation should consider the implications of foreign control over South Africa’s banking system, including what pressure was applied to Manuel to approve the "ill-considered" takeover of Absa.
"The reality is that Absa, to the detriment of the South African public, has been milked by Barclays.
"Although Absa’s assets amount to only 4% of the total, Absa is reported to contribute 20% to total Barclays’ group revenue," he said.
"Surveys repeatedly find Absa to be the most expensive of South African banks. The former governor of the SA Reserve Bank noted as early as 2007 that he failed to see any benefits of Barclays' management at Absa."
Absa declined to comment on Crawford-Browne's claims, and presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj could not be reached for comment.
Crawford-Browne said he had made a submission to the Seriti Commission - an arms deal probe - to request an investigation of perjury charges against Manuel and Maria Ramos in connection with the arms deal.
"Ms Ramos was then director general of the Treasury, and under oath, affirmed that the 'agreements... are self-standing loan agreements with binding force and not dependent on any other agreement entered into by government.'
"This lie was exposed by the Barclays bank loan agreements," he alleged.
He said he had previously submitted affidavits that detailed how BAE paid bribes of more than R1.5bn to secure its arms deal contracts, to whom the bribes were paid and to which bank accounts the bribes were credited.
The documents also revealed the complicity in money laundering of the British government and both international and South African banks.
He claimed that when a court awarded him with the discovery of the international offer's negotiating team and financial working group papers for the arms deal, Manuel and Ramos refused to comply.
"The court had previously rejected their arguments that it 'was not in the national interest to reveal how the government conducts its international financial arrangements'," he said.
"This is pertinent given enthusiastic approval by the minister in 2005 when Barclays Bank took over Absa with a 55.5% shareholding. What threats did Barclays Bank make?" he asked.
He said Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale was a major shareholder in Absa and a former director.
Ramos was appointed chief executive of Absa in 2009.
"Clear conflicts of interest are evident," Crawford-Brown said.
Source: News 24
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Unmasking SA's new top cop: Who is Mangwashi Phiyega?
The M&G takes a look at Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega, who President Jacob Zuma has chosen to replace Bheki Cele as the new national police commissioner. Bheki Cele has been sacked from his position as national police commissioner. President Jacob Zuma announced Cele’s firing at a hastily convened press conference on Tuesday afternoon where he named Mangwashi Victoria “Riah” Phiyega as Cele’s replacement. “It is my pleasure to announce the new national police commissioner today who takes office with immediate effect,” he said.
Phiyega is currently chairperson of the presidential review committee on state owned enterprises and deputy chairperson of the independent commission on the remuneration of office bearers. She will be the first woman to hold the post of national police commissioner. Phiyega told the Mail & Guardian she was excited about her appointment. ‘I am deeply humbled by this vote of confidence and I look forward to serving with dignity and humility’ she said.
Despite holding a number of high profile positions with corporates, parastatals and NGOs, Phiyega has no policing experience and is sure to come under fire for this. Security experts have long decried the fact that neither of the countries past two police commissioners - Cele and convicted fraudster Jackie Selebi - have come from within the ranks of the police force.
According to the presidency, Phiyega is a past Absa Group executive for corporate affairs. She chaired the bank’s AllPay boards for Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, was a board member of Absa Actuaries and a trustee of the Absa Foundation. She spent a number of years at Transnet, where she occupied a range of positions in different divisions. She was group executive corporate affairs, a member of the executive committee, and an attending member of the board. It’s rumoured that her 2009 departure from Absa, where she served as head of corporate affairs, was linked to her difficult relationship with the bank’s chief executive Maria Ramos. Phiyega was said to be one of a group of Transnet executives ousted when Ramos took over as chief executive at the parastatal in 2004.
Prior to her time at Transnet, Phiyega served as general manager for ports and corporate affairs at the National Ports Authority. She has also chaired the national welfare forum, acted as a commissioner for the Road Accident Fund, and was a board member of the 2010 World Cup bid committee.
Phiyega was born in Polokwane. She holds an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Johannesburg and a post graduate diploma in business administration from the University of Wales, and has completed programmes in management and business leadership programmes at the University of Singapore and the prestigious Wharton Business School in Pensylvania. She began her professional career as a social worker and branch manager at Pretoria Child Welfare and later served as the director of the National Council of Child Welfare.
Phiyega is a member of the International Women’s Forum of South Africa, which identifies her as “a coach and mentor” linked to various organisations. Phiyega was featured in the M&G 2011 Book of South African Women. In an essay she penned for the publication, she quoted Jamaican university professor Pat Morgan, who said: “The 21st century woman embodies the hopes of her nation, knows the history of her people, exposes injustice and comforts the poor and the unemployed.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
Phiyega is currently chairperson of the presidential review committee on state owned enterprises and deputy chairperson of the independent commission on the remuneration of office bearers. She will be the first woman to hold the post of national police commissioner. Phiyega told the Mail & Guardian she was excited about her appointment. ‘I am deeply humbled by this vote of confidence and I look forward to serving with dignity and humility’ she said.
Despite holding a number of high profile positions with corporates, parastatals and NGOs, Phiyega has no policing experience and is sure to come under fire for this. Security experts have long decried the fact that neither of the countries past two police commissioners - Cele and convicted fraudster Jackie Selebi - have come from within the ranks of the police force.
According to the presidency, Phiyega is a past Absa Group executive for corporate affairs. She chaired the bank’s AllPay boards for Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, was a board member of Absa Actuaries and a trustee of the Absa Foundation. She spent a number of years at Transnet, where she occupied a range of positions in different divisions. She was group executive corporate affairs, a member of the executive committee, and an attending member of the board. It’s rumoured that her 2009 departure from Absa, where she served as head of corporate affairs, was linked to her difficult relationship with the bank’s chief executive Maria Ramos. Phiyega was said to be one of a group of Transnet executives ousted when Ramos took over as chief executive at the parastatal in 2004.
Prior to her time at Transnet, Phiyega served as general manager for ports and corporate affairs at the National Ports Authority. She has also chaired the national welfare forum, acted as a commissioner for the Road Accident Fund, and was a board member of the 2010 World Cup bid committee.
Phiyega was born in Polokwane. She holds an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Johannesburg and a post graduate diploma in business administration from the University of Wales, and has completed programmes in management and business leadership programmes at the University of Singapore and the prestigious Wharton Business School in Pensylvania. She began her professional career as a social worker and branch manager at Pretoria Child Welfare and later served as the director of the National Council of Child Welfare.
Phiyega is a member of the International Women’s Forum of South Africa, which identifies her as “a coach and mentor” linked to various organisations. Phiyega was featured in the M&G 2011 Book of South African Women. In an essay she penned for the publication, she quoted Jamaican university professor Pat Morgan, who said: “The 21st century woman embodies the hopes of her nation, knows the history of her people, exposes injustice and comforts the poor and the unemployed.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
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