Standard Bank announced that it is ending its relationship with the Sekunjalo Group, owned by Iqbal Survé, after a “comprehensive client review process”, but would not give the specific reasons, because of client confidentiality.
“The Sekunjalo Group has been informed of the decision and the reasons therefore. As these reasons form part of the confidential client relationship between the two parties, Standard Bank is not in a position to disclose these publicly,” Standard Bank confirmed in an emailed statement to Business Day on Tuesday.
The bank said several factors were at play, some of which are in the public domain, and “applied its risk management principles against which all prospective and existing clients are evaluated and assessed”.
The move underscores corporate reluctance to be associated with the group, which has hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
This is the group’s latest run-in with a bank. In February, Nedbank announced it will cut its ties with Premier Fishing and Brands (PFB) as it turned its back on companies in Iqbal Survé’s Sekunjalo Investments stable.
PFB is a part of the African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) stable, the parent company of Ayo Technology Solutions controlled by Survé.
Sekunjalo and its relationship with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) featured in an inquiry into whether the R2.3-trillion state asset manager was reckless in investing public servants’ pensions. The findings were damning against Sekunjalo and the PIC, which pumped in R4.3bn for a 29% stake in Ayo — a valuation deemed rich for the company, which is now valued at just more than R1.17bn.
Ayo has denied that any of its executives made any misrepresentations to the PIC regarding the nature of the investment. The PIC is suing the company to get its money back.
Other banks that have ditched Sekunjalo-affiliated companies in the past several months are Absa, Capitec, Investec and FNB. Companies such as the corporate governance advisory unit of PSG, auditing house BDO and Sasol have also cut ties.
Standard Bank said it provided Sekunjalo Group with several opportunities to respond to issues flagged by the bank, but the group opted for the legal route instead by challenging the decision in the high court.
Survé on Monday criticised the banking sector in a column published on IOL, where he said Standard Bank will end the bank facilities of Independent Media, by calling its power and authority “absolute” and saying Sekunjalo has been “bullied by the banking cartel”, including Standard Bank.
“This is the guillotine blade that now hangs perilously close above Independent Media’s heads as Standard Bank has seen fit to follow where SA’s other major banks have gone, in advising they will be terminating Independent Media’s bank accounts,” he wrote.
“Never in the history of our country has such a large entity, with more than 8,000 direct and indirect employees, been the focus of such attention, and outright discrimination. And it is all aimed at silencing Independent Media,” he added.
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