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Absa Group Limited (ABGL; formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited), and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a South African-based financial services group, offering personal and business
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
ing, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, as well as bank assurance. ABGL in 2020 was the majority shareholder of 11 banks located in
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
, South Africa, Tanzania (two entities), Uganda and Zambia. The group maintains representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria and also has an international office in London and New York City. As of October 2019, Absa Group Limited had assets of US$91 billion.


History


Barclays Africa Limited (1991-2017)

Absa was founded in 1991 through the merger of financial service providers United Bank (South Africa), the Allied Bank (Souths of the Sage Group. The following year, Absa acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group which included Trustbank, Senbank and Bankfin. In the early years of this union, each bank operated under its own name. In 1998, they were fused into one single brand. A year later, Absa adopted a new corporate identity and the name was changed into Absa Group Limited. In May 2005, Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom purchased 56.4% stake in Absa. In early 2007, the Barclays Bank acquisition of Absa was criticized by the governor of the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condi ...
,
Tito Mboweni Tito Titus Mboweni (born 16 March 1959) is a South African politician who served as Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa from 2018 to 2021. Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the South African Rese ...
who said he "had yet to see the benefits of Barclays' management of Absa".


Bank charges (2005-2012)

Finweek Bank Charges Reports from 2008 through 2010 found Absa Group Limited to be the most expensive bank in South Africa. Pay-as-you-transact (PAYT) fees increased 82% from 2005 to 2010. The 2012, Finweek Bank Charges Report ranked Absa's Gold Value Bundle as the cheapest package option amongst the four banks that were compared. The report has also shown Absa's PAYT pricing structure to have reduced by 25% by 2013, leaving it third cheapest in the overall ranking at that time. In 2013, the group acquired the entire issued share capital of Barclays Africa Limited and issued 129,540,636 Consideration Shares to Barclays Africa Group Holdings Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays) thus increasing the shareholding of Barclays plc to 62.3%. The Consideration Shares were listed on the JSE from the commencement of trading on 31 July 2013. The name change from “ABSA Group Limited” to “Barclays Africa Group Limited” was completed in August 2013. In 2017, the South African
Public Protector The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy. According to Section 181 of the Constitution: * These institutions are independent, and subje ...
,
Busisiwe Mkhwebane Busisiwe Mkhwebane is a South African advocate, prosecutor and ombudsman, who has served as the 4th Public Protector of South Africa from 2016 to 2022. Early life and education Mkhwebane was born in Bethal in the then Transvaal province (now ...
, found that the bailout of R1.125 billion that Absa's predecessor Bankorp Group had received between 1985 and 1992 from the Reserve Bank was illegal, and recommended that Absa be forced to pay back R2.25 billion, the current equivalent of the amount. The report was set aside by the
Pretoria High Court The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria ...
, finding that "The public protector did not conduct herself in a manner which would be expected from a person occupying the office of the public protector." The court assessed some costs of the case ''personally'' against Mkhwebane due to her conduct, an order upheld by the
Constitutional Court of South Africa The Constitutional Court of South Africa is a supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was first establish ...
in July 2019.


Absa Group Limited (2018-present)

Barclays Bank Plc in 2018 owned 14.9 percent of Absa Group Limited. In March 2018, Barclays Africa announced the group's name would revert to Absa Group Limited, effective 30 May 2018. The company underwent rebranding in 2018, inclusive of a new logo and slogans. Absa opened an international office in London in September 2018, then in 2019, opened another international office in New York City. As of October 2019, according to ''Club of Mozambique'', Absa Group Limited had total assets in excess of US$91 billion. ABGL in 2020 was the majority shareholder of 11 banks located in
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
, South Africa, Tanzania (two entities), Uganda and Zambia. In March 2022, Sello Moloko was appointed Group Chairman and
Arrie Rautenbach Arrie Rautenbach (born circa 1966) is the chief executive officer (CEO), of Absa Group Limited, a financial services conglomerate, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, and subsidiaries in eleven sub-Saharan countries. Prior to his c ...
was appointed CEO, and its fourth CEO in three years. The company had been without a CEO for eleven months after the abrupt resignation of Daniel Mminele. In August 2022, Barclays Plc sold its remaining stake in Absa, which it had acquired in 2005, selling 7.4 percent of Absa's issued capital for $620 million.


Overview and structure

Absa Group Limited's shares are listed on the
JSE Limited JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...
stock exchange. In 2020, Absa Bank Kenya and Absa Bank Botswana continue to be listed on their respective stock exchanges.


Major shareholders

Below is the Absa Group's 10 largest shareholders as at 15 January 2019:


Subsidiaries

*
Absa Bank Limited Absa Bank Limited (ABL), formerly known as Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a commercial bank in South Africa. It is licensed by the Reserve Bank of South Africa, the central bank and national banking regulator. Location The bank's h ...
(100%) * Absa Financial Services Limited (100%) * Absa Bank Botswana (67.8%) * Absa Bank Ghana (100%) * Absa Bank Kenya (68.5%) * Absa Bank Mauritius (100%) * Absa Bank Mozambique (98.1%) * Absa Bank Seychelles (99.8%) * Absa Bank Uganda (100%) * Absa Bank Zambia (100%) * National Bank of Commerce Limited (55%) * Absa Bank Tanzania (100%)


Legal matters


ABSA v. Sweet


Mortgage loans misconduct

In South Africa, banks have to secure consent from the borrower if the bank wishes to securitise the loan, allowing the bank to bundle in the loan with other loans and sell it to new owners. In 2014, South African courts made a number of rulings against Absa's
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any p ...
loan division in a number of summary judgements against clients who had taken out loans with the bank and who the bank had accused of defaulting on their loans. In August 2014, Absa brought a case against James Grobbelaar and Kevin Jenzen for allegedly defaulting on their home loans. However, Absa was unable to provide proof of the loan agreements, claiming that they had been destroyed in a fire in 2009 and instead presented an unsigned blank loan agreement. In November 2014, Absa withdrew a case it brought in the North Gauteng High Court against Emmarentia and Monica Liebenberg for allegedly defaulting on loans taken out in 2007, with the bank being unable to provide an electronic copy of the documents. The Liebenberg's accused the bank of trying to bully them "into submission, by threatening legal costs and expenses and by pursuing a wrongful summary judgement application knowing full well the massive disputes involved." The Liebenbergs also stated in their affidavit that the bank inflated the interest rate of the loan and charged additional fees that were never agreed to.


See also

*
List of companies traded on the JSE This is a list of companies traded on the JSE. The original compilation of the list was done in February 2006. __NOTOC__ ''Note: For companies without a listed external link there is at various financial information sites; please see artic ...
*
List of companies of South Africa South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa. It is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 60 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an upper- ...
* List of banks *
List of banks in South Africa This is a list of commercial banks in South Africa Banks Locally controlled banks * Absa Group Limited * African Bank Limited * Bidvest Bank Limited * Capitec Bank Limited * Discovery Limited * First National Bank * FirstRand Bank - A subsid ...
*
Economy of South Africa The Economy of South Africa is the third largest in Africa and the most industrialized, technologically advanced, and diversified economy in Africa overall. South Africa is an upper-middle-income economy, one of only eight such countries in Africa ...


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barclays Africa Group Banks of South Africa Barclays Banks established in 1991 Financial services companies established in 1991 Companies based in Johannesburg Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange South African companies established in 1991