By Staff Reporter
JOHANNESBURG – Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender by assets, has been named Best Foreign Exchange Provider in Africa for a third successive year for the 2015 Global Finance World’s Best Foreign Exchange Providers Awards.
Global Finance also named Standard Bank the country winner as Best Foreign Exchange Provider in South Africa, and across a number of its operations in Africa, including, Nigeria (Stanbic IBTC), Botswana
(Stanbic Bank Botswana), Kenya (CfC Stanbic Bank) and Zambia (Stanbic Zambia). Furthermore, in the only new African country submission that was available, Standard Bank Angola also won Best Foreign Exchange Provider in Angola 2015.
“Being acknowledged for this award once again demonstrates our ongoing commitment to connecting Africa,” said Richard De Roos, Head of Foreign Exchange at Standard Bank. “As a truly African banking group with a deep specialisation in resources, Standard Bank is ideally positioned to facilitate the booming trade flows occurring across the continent.”
The Global Finance Magazine Awards are annual awards which recognise the leading players in foreign exchange trading across the world. The awards take into account insights from industry analysts and experts from 97 regions across the globe with winners chosen on factors ranging from market share to transaction volume, global coverage and innovation.
With operations spanning 20 African countries, Standard Bank is committed to the ongoing development of the continent’s financial markets. Standard Bank’s footprint across Africa, coupled with its eminence in international markets, enables it to tap pools of capital from across the world to boost the liquidity and depth of the continent’s currency markets.
“Standard Bank has performed extremely well and has proven its dominance as a world class African bank and foreign exchange provider,” said Mr De Roos.
“Our widespread network across Africa means we are able to meet the foreign exchange requirements of our clients, wherever they may be operating on the continent.”
Standard Bank South Africa is the largest operating entity of Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets. Standard Bank Group had total assets of N$1 694 billion (about US$162 billion) at December 31, 2013, while its market capitalisation was N$209.4 billion (about US$20 billion).