Facing up to the foreigners

The new dawn in South Africa is not an unmixed blessing for its banks. They now have to face foreign competitors muscling in on a sector they previously monopolized. But with their strong networks and increasing overseas resources, local banks are finding that alliances with foreign institutions can be mutually beneficial. Bruce Cameron reports

When the South African government announced last month that HSBC Investment Bank was to be its adviser on privatization, it took the wind out of the sails of the major domestic banks. There was, though, still a local connection: HSBC subsidiary James Capel recently bought South African stockbroker Simpson McKie, now Simpson McKie James Capel.

The snatching of the one-year advisory deal does not mean that South African banks are being altogether sidelined as foreign competition builds up.

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