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The development of banking in Africa followed the demand of exchange networks from traditional indigenous economies to colonial exchange with the European world. The establishment of European banking institutions reflected the needs of the capitalist economy introduced by colonialism. The banking management of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century European banks adhered to the interests of shareholders. This chapter shows the emergence of well-managed banks in Africa, but after decolonization the political economy of African independence resulted in state capturing of financial institutions in most African countries. The South African banking system developed in close adherence to the British model. State-owned post-independence banks in Africa failed to deliver the development envisaged. The chapter shows the adverse impact of global economic developments on Africa, resulting in high debt levels. Structural adjustment of African economies and new market-oriented policies allowed the development of locally owned private banking institutions. The high-cost structure of the formal banking system from the dominant South African banks incentivised the mobile money innovation, an arena where African entrepreneurs lead global markets. Financial inclusion remains low in Africa.

Explicit deposit insurance is a safety net that bank regulatory authorities use to attempt to prevent and mitigate the costs of bank failures. International experience has shown however that explicit deposit insurance can increase the risk‐taking behaviour of banks. In this paper the authors briefly explore the policy lessons and the implications of the relationship between deposit insurance design and bank system stability, relate this to a possible proposal for explicit deposit insurance design in South Africa and describe aspects of the proposed South African Deposit Insurance Scheme (SADIS).

The purpose of this study is to understand the economic substance of Islamic banking transactions in South Africa and to analyse whether the economic substance is closely related to the legal form. Additionally, this study highlights the similarities and differences in the execution of Islamic banking transactions across different South African banks. The transactions analysed are deposit products of qard and Mudarabah and financing products of Murabaha, Ijarah and diminishing Musharaka.

The study was conducted through interviews with representatives from each of the four South African banks that offers Islamic banking products. Interviews were semi-structured and allowed interviewees to voice their perspectives, increasing the validity of the interviews.

The study found that specific Shariah requirements of Islamic banking transactions are considered and included in the legal structure of the contracts by all four banks offering Islamic banking products. However, the economic reality of these transactions was often significantly different from its legal form and was found to, economically, replicate conventional banking transactions. The study also found that all four banks offer Islamic banking products under the same Shariah principles, but in some instances (e.g. diminishing Musharaka), execute these transactions in different ways. This study is the first of its kind in South Africa.

While safeguards have been used to ensure the reliability and validity of the research, there remain a few inherent limitations which should be noted: interviewees, while chosen for their expertise and level of knowledge, may provide highly technical insight which may be difficult to interpret. Detailed technicalities were therefore excluded from this research. The regulatory environment of banks in South Africa, for example, regulation imposed by the Financial Service Board on all financial institutions in South Africa, has not been explored. However, the regulatory environment was brought to the readers’ attention to help illustrate certain themes. This research uses only Shariah requirements as detailed in Section 2.2 to analyse transactions. Fatwas (rulings) issued by the Shariah Boards of South African Islamic banks have not been included in this study and may be an area of future research.

This study is the first of its kind in South Africa. The study adds to the Islamic banking literature by analysing the real execution of Islamic banking transactions rather than the theoretical compliance with Shariah law.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of the use of loan loss provisions (LLPs) to smooth income by banks in South Africa. More specifically, the authors examine the influence of ownership, IFRS disclosure rules and economic fluctuation on the income smoothing behaviour of South African banks while controlling for the traditional determinants of bank income smoothing via LLPs.

The study employs fixed effect regression methodology to estimate the determinants of discretionary LLPs.

The authors find that South African banks do not use LLPs to smooth income when they are: under-capitalised, have large non-performing loans and have a moderate ownership concentration. On the other hand, income smoothing is pronounced when South African banks are rather more profitable during economic boom periods, well-capitalised during boom periods and is pronounced among banks that adopt IFRS and among banks with a Big 4 auditor. The authors also find that banks use LLPs for capital management purposes, and bank provisioning is procyclical with economic fluctuations.

Bank supervisors in South Africa should monitor the bank provisioning practices in South Africa closely to ensure that LLPs are not used as a substitute for bank capital. Banks in South Africa should not use sufficient provisioning as a substitute for sufficient bank capital. Second, the evidence for procyclical bank provisioning shows that provisioning by South African banks reinforce the current state of the economy and might compel bank supervisors in South Africa to consider the adoption of a dynamic provisioning system that is already adopted by bank supervisors in Spain, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia and Bolivia.

Bank income smoothing is an important issue because it has implications for banking stability and accounting transparency. There are few studies on bank income smoothing for emerging economies particularly in Africa where there are substantial differences in ownership and accounting rules. This is the first South African study to examine the influence of disclosure rules, ownership and economic cycle fluctuations on bank income smoothing behaviour via LLPs.

The purpose of this study is to analyze commercial bank-level data to examine a credit channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in emerging economies, such as South Africa from BRICS countries. Among the important questions that central banks, economists and policymakers have raised in this area are: Do bank characteristics and macroeconomic variables influence credit supply in South Africa? Do bank characteristics and macroeconomic variables interact to influence credit supply in South Africa?

Static panel data with pooled OLS, a random effect model and the fixed-effect model are used for data analysis. Using a sample of 50 commercial banks from South Africa over 10 years from 2009 to 2018. The statistical software Stata is utilized for data analysis.

The conclusion of this study shows that in South Africa, the loan amount has a strong and positive macroeconomic variable inflation effect. The outcomes of the study also revealed that in South Africa, there is a strong but negative association between interaction macroeconomic variables inflation and bank characteristic liquidity ratio on the loan amount.

The authors contribute to the existing literature by identifying the key determinants of monetary policy transmission channels through credit in South Africa and, furthermore, through a country-level data analysis and disaggregation at the commercial bank level, as well as economic conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the need to incorporate the loan loss provisions (LLPs) and risk measures in order to examine the repercussions on advancing approach and profitability.

The study investigates the effect of explanatory variables on profitability and advancing approach of the banks. The variables used in this study were determined, based on the review of relevant literature and established according to the availability of data for measurement purposes. Inspired by previous research, Hausman test is used in this study to determine whether a random or fixed effects generalized least squares model is best. The linear regression model is applied to strongly balanced panel data obtained from the ten commercial banks.

The findings demonstrate that Nigerian banking sector considers LLPs in terms of its decision making of advancing approach, while proper inclusion of credit, market and operational risk is more important for South Africa’s banks rather than the maintenance of provisions.

Moreover, the credit risk proves to be more needed factor of consideration for Nigerian rather for South African banks. This is an answer to the strong economy of South Africa as compared to Nigeria and more chances of default faced by Nigerian banks.

The purpose of this study is to examine the South African banks’ customer due diligence (CDD) practices in the fintech era to mitigate money laundering (ML) risks and ensure financial stability. Financial technologies have brought substantial transformations to the financial services sector. However, such technologies have exposed the sector to emerging risks that threaten the integrity and stability of the financial system globally. Before any bank–customer relationship is established, proper customer background checks must be conducted. These background checks enable financial institutions to validate information provided and ensure customers are properly risk profiled. Failure to risk profile customers could result in financial institutions being used as conduits for ML. Undoubtedly, CDD procedures are pivotal to overall anti-money laundering efforts and curbing financing terrorism in a regulatory framework.

A qualitative research approach was adopted to address the research questions of the study. Given the confidentiality associated with the financial services sector, data triangulation was used in blending mainly secondary and primary data sources. Secondary data sources used in the study were published reports available in the public domain that were corroborated with subject matter experts’ interviews.

Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that in South Africa, technological solutions have been incorporated into CDD functions, which is now risk-based (enhanced due diligence). Also, legally, South Africa has incorporated the biometrics, integration with Department of Home Affairs and Companies and Intellectual Property Commission databases, customer consent to third-party sources with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the Protection of Personal Information Act.

The shift towards digital banking in South Africa results in increased data and dynamic risk profiling. This study advocates a policy shift requiring a risk-based approach to mitigating emerging ML risks (in particular digital laundering), especially in the wake of South Africa’s recent greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force.

This paper aims to investigate whether any potential weakening of the UK’s financial sector, as a result of Brexit, will have a negative impact on South Africa’s financial sector given the close ties between the countries’ financial systems. This paper seeks to also argue that Brexit may provide an opportunity for South Africa to pursue new trade linkages with other countries in Africa and Asia.

This paper is a review of relevant sources from foreign direct investment (FDI) and international economic literature. It analyses comparative and cross-disciplinary research and examines the current trends in the legal and economic climate in South Africa – within the context of economic growth and FDI inflows patterns.

This paper finds that Brexit does not pose a systemic risk to South Africa’s financial system. This paper also finds that South Africa’s recent policy changes may serve as obstacles to South Africa attracting new FDI.

The implications of Brexit on the investment in the economy of African countries are under-researched, and this paper provides an additional contribution to the euro-centric discussion of the ramifications of Brexit on the economic developments in the financial sector after Britain’s exit.

This paper argues for an enhanced FDI system for South Africa and its policy proposals can be used to further the independence of African countries from European investment streams.

Money laundering activities were allegedly rampant and poorly regulated in the South African financial markets and financial institutions prior to 1998. In other words, prior to the enactment of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 as amended (POCA), there was no statute that expressly and adequately provided for the regulation of money laundering in South Africa. Consequently, the POCA was enacted to curb organised criminal activities such as money laundering in South Africa. Thereafter, the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 as amended (FICA) was enacted in a bid to, inter alia, enhance financial regulation and the combating of money laundering in the South African financial institutions and financial markets.

The paper provides an overview analysis of the current legislation regulating money laundering in South Africa. In this regard, prohibited offences and measures that are used to curb money laundering under each relevant statute are discussed. The paper further discusses the regulation and use of customer due diligence measures to combat money laundering activities in South Africa. Accordingly, the regulation of customer due diligence under the FICA and the Banks Act 94 of 1990 as amended (Banks Act) is provided.

It is hoped that policymakers and other relevant persons will use the recommendations provided in the paper to enhance the curbing of money laundering in South Africa.

The paper does not provide empirical research.

The paper is useful to all policymakers, lawyers, law students, regulatory bodies, especially, in South Africa.

The paper seeks to curb money laundering in the economy and society at large, especially in the South African financial markets.

The paper is original research on the South African anti-money laundering regime.