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| Laubscher: "banks cannot stand
alone" |
Simmonds Street, Johannesburg, is the site of Standard
Bank's sprawling headquarters, a biosphere full of bankers, high
flyers, secretaries and their hairdressers. But this self-contained
world, insulated from the day-to-day ravages of a restless city,
came under siege last year. The invader, in the form of Nedcor -
its smaller rival - was camped outside the gates for nine months.
As visitors approached the Stanbic complex a banner urged: "Hoot
to give the Neds the boot!" Posters on the walls angrily demanded
"Is this by Mutual consent?" (A reference to Old Mutual, the South
African life assurer, which has a controlling stake in Nedcor and
22% of Stanbic, and saw their merger as a convenient exit.)
Nedcor's headquarters are in Main Street, just a short walk away.
Richard Laubscher, chief executive of Nedcor, took that walk last
October 5, three weeks after he had shocked Stanbic with an
audacious...
