First Rand

FirstRand Limited
Public company
Traded as JSE: FSR
Industry Banking and finance
Founded 1998
Headquarters Johannesburg, South Africa
Key people
Lauritz Laurie Dippenaar
Chairman
Sizwe Errol Nxasana
Group CEO[1]
Products Loans, mortgages, transactional services, investments, debit cards, credit cards, insurance, asset management
Total assets US$89 billion (ZAR:945.5 billion) (2014)[2]
Number of employees
38 989
Website Homepage

FirstRand Limited, also referred to as FirstRand Group is the holding company of FirstRand Bank, and is a financial services provider in South Africa. It is one of the financial services providers licensed by the Reserve Bank of South Africa, the national banking regulator.[3]

Overview

Listed on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange, FirstRand Limited is one of the largest financial institutions in South Africa, and provides banking, insurance and investment products and services to retail, commercial, corporate and public sector customers. In addition to South Africa, the Group operates in eight key African territories, namely, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Nigeria. FirstRand Bank has branches in London and India.

FirstRand executes its strategy through a portfolio of leading financial services franchises; Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), the corporate and investment bank; First National Bank (FNB), the retail and commercial bank; WesBank, an instalment finance provider; and Ashburton Investments, the Group’s newly-established investment management business.

The group has its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. FirstRand is one of the five largest banking groups in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.[4]

History

The FirstRand Group's history traces back to the 1970s as an investment bank. The Group as currently is was established on April 1, 1998, through a merger of the financial services interests of Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Limited (now Anglo American plc) and RMB Holdings (RMBH) in order to achieve the objective of a unified financial services grouping.[5]

These financial services interests were First National Bank Holdings ("FNB"), Momentum Life Assurers Limited ("Momentum") and the Southern Life Association Limited ("Southern Life") all of which were listed on the JSE.[5] FNB and Southern Life were delisted from the JSE and constituted as wholly owned subsidiaries of Momentum which was the vehicle to effect the merger. Momentum changed its name to FirstRand Limited and was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on May 25, 1998 with Anglo American and RMB Holdings holding 20.43% and 25.03% of the authorized capital of FirstRand respectively.[6] Anglo American has since shed off its entire shareholding.[7]

Post merger events saw the merging of Rand Merchant Bank and FNB to form FirstRand Bank Limited, with the two units remaining to trade as divisions of FirstRand Bank Limited and the transfer of Momentum's insurance business to that of into Southern Life to form FirstRand Insurance Limited.[6]

FirstRand is listed as a "locally controlled bank" by the South African Reserve Bank, the national banking regulator.[8] The Group has subsidiaries in South Africa and in the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho and Zambia.[9] First Rand also has interests in Australia and India.[10] The Group has expressed interest in expanding its operations into Angola, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania.[11] In May 2012, Kenyan press reports indicated that the group was making plans to expand into Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.[12]

In November 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued the first merchant banking licences in more than a decade to FirstRand Bank and another local firm.[13]

Member companies

First Rand Group holds its investments through four main subsidiaries. These subsidiaries and their subsidiaries are therefore are members of the First Rand Group include, but are not limited to the following:[14]

Ownership

FirstRand is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Namibian Stock Exchange. Its major shareholders include:[22]

First Rand Limited Stock Ownership
Rank Name of Owner Percentage Ownership
1RMB Holdings133.9
2Remgro23.9
3FirstRand Empowerment Trust and related parties08.1
4Institutional and Private Investors on the JSE Limited45.5
Total100.00

1→ RMB Holdings large shareholders include Directors and management of RMBH with 10.4%, Remgro with 27.9% shareholding in RMBH and Royal Bafokeng Holdings with a 15% stake in RMBH.

2→ Based on its direct and indirect shareholding in First Rand, Remgro's effective control of the group is 13.36%

External links

See also

References

  1. "FirstRand appoints Nxasana as group CEO – Business – Mail & Guardian Online". Mg.co.za. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  2. FirstRand - Financial Snapshot
  3. List of Locally Controlled Banks In South Africa
  4. "Africa: Sixteen Local Banks in Africa's Top 100". allAfrica.com. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "First Rand - Abridged Revised Listing Particulars". Imara Investing in Africa. First Rand Limited. May 25, 1998. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "First Rand Annual 1999 Report". First Rand Limited. June 30, 1998. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  7. "Anglo American disposes of its remaining stake in FirstRand". Press releases. Anglo American plc. January 27, 2004. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  8. List of Licensed Financial Institutions In South Africa
  9. "| South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) To Start Operations in Zambia …". Zambianchronicle.com. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  10. History of FirstRand Corporation
  11. FirstRand Eyeing Sterling Bank In Nigeria
  12. FirstRand Expanding Into Eastern Africa
  13. Nigeria Cbank issues FirstRand with merchant bank license, International: Reuters, 2012
  14. "FirstRand - Annual integrated report 2014". FirstRand. June 30, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  15. "FirstRand Bank Limited- annual report for the year ended June 30, 2014". FirstRand Bank. June 30, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  16. "Q&A: Krishnamoorthy Harihar, Treasurer, FirstRand Bank India". Business-standard.com. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  17. "First National Bank Botswana Limited". Botswana Stock Exchange. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  18. "About Direct Axis". Direct Axis. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  19. "Rentworks - Credentials". Rentworks Ltd. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  20. "Ashburton Investments - About us". Ashburton Investments. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  21. http://www.firstrand.co.za/13/ownership-and-operating-structure/