Standard Bank in discussions with ICBC over exiting London-based joint venture

By:

Updated: Mar 11, 2022, 09:21 GMT+00:00

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Standard Bank has commenced discussions with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) around exiting its 40% stake in the two lenders' London-based joint venture ICBC Standard Bank, chief executive officer Sim Tshabalala said on Friday.

Customers queue to draw money from an ATM outside a branch of South Africa's Standard Bank in Cape Town

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Standard Bank has commenced discussions with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) around exiting its 40% stake in the two lenders’ London-based joint venture ICBC Standard Bank, chief executive officer Sim Tshabalala said on Friday.

Standard Bank has been trying to exit the venture, a relic of its failed bid to become a global emerging markets lender, for some time, but been restricted by the terms of its agreement with ICBC.

The relevant contractual term has now expired, Tshabalala said in the group’s results presentation on Friday.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Nqobile Dludla)

About the Author

Reuterscontributor

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: