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11.04.2007 Business & Finance

Standard Bank Tops Them All

11.04.2007 LISTEN
By Daily Graphic

The Standard Bank Group, parent company of Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited, has been adjudged the overall best of 100 top African banks in a poll conducted by the African Business Magazine.

According to the influential business magazine, the ranking for the top 100 banks in the annual survey was based on shareholders' fund as defined by the Switzerland-based Basel Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Other criteria are the assets, capital and profits of the banks.

The assets of the Standard Bank were valued by the magazine to be $119,475 million, while its capital was estimated at $5,305 million and end-of-year profit as $2,275 million.

According to the management of the bank, its remarkable achievement was made after 143 years of unblemished service to its clientele across Africa and beyond.

Standard Bank, which has been part of the fabric of South Africa over the years, has established itself as a leader in banking technology for the personal and business markets in South Africa.

The Corporate and Investment Banking division has consistently been ranked in successive peer surveys as the South African market leader.

Rooted in Africa and with strategic representation in key sub-Saharan markets, the Standard Bank Group has positioned itself as a regional banking force with a global sweep.

It delivers its services in 18 African countries and 21 other countries outside Africa, with management setting its eyes on the key financial markets of Europe, the United States of America and Asia as some of its emerging market focus.

Standard Bank's Africa banking operations has one of the biggest single networks of banking services in Africa.

As of December 31,2006, the group had assets of R978 billion and a staff strength of more than 42,200 worldwide.

In addition to its banking operations, Standard Bank enjoys a strategic interest in the insurance industry through control of the Liberty Group, one of Africa's leading life offices and financial services groups.

It supports corporate social investment projects in every African country in which it operates. Its social investment programme focuses on key development areas such as education, health and entrepreneurship.

Story by Kofi Yeboah

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