FirstRand Limited, also referred to as FirstRand Group is the holding company of FirstRand
Bank, and is a financial services provider in South Africa.
It is one of the financial services providers licensed by the Reserve Bank of South Africa,
the national banking regulator.
== Overview == Listed on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange,
FirstRand Limited is one of the largest financial institutions in South Africa, and provides
banking, insurance and investment products and services to retail, commercial, corporate
and public sector customers.
In addition to South Africa, the group operates in eight key African countries, namely, Botswana,
Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria.
FirstRand Bank has branches in London, Guernsey and India.
FirstRand executes its strategy through a portfolio of leading financial services franchises;
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), the corporate and investment bank; First National Bank (FNB),
the retail and commercial bank; WesBank, an instalment finance provider; and Ashburton
Investments, the group’s asset management business.
The group has its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa.
FirstRand is one of the five largest banking groups in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
== History == The FirstRand group's history traces back
to the 1970s as an investment bank.
The group as currently was established on April 1, 1998, through a merger of the financial
services interests of Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Limited (now Anglo American
plc) and RMB Holdings (RMBH) in order to achieve the objective of a unified financial services
grouping.These financial services interests were First National Bank Holdings, Momentum
Life Assurers Limited ("Momentum" now part of MMI Holdings) and the Southern Life Association
Limited ("Southern Life") all of which were listed on the JSE.
FNB and Southern Life were delisted from the JSE and constituted as wholly owned subsidiaries
of Momentum which was the vehicle to affect the merger.
Momentum changed its name to FirstRand Limited and was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
on May 25, 1998 with Anglo American and RMB Holdings holding 20.43% and 25.03% of the
authorized capital of FirstRand respectively.
Anglo American has since shed its entire shareholding.Post merger events saw the merging of Rand Merchant
Bank and FNB to form FirstRand Bank Limited, with the two units remaining to trade as divisions
of FirstRand Bank Limited and the transfer of Momentum's insurance business to that of
into Southern Life to form FirstRand Insurance Limited.
FirstRand is listed as a "locally controlled bank" by the South African Reserve Bank, the
national banking regulator.
The group has subsidiaries in South Africa and in the countries of Botswana, Mozambique,
Namibia, Lesotho, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and the UK.In November 2012, the Central
Bank of Nigeria issued the first merchant banking licences in more than a decade to
RMB Nigeria and another local firm.
== Member companies == FirstRand Group holds its investments through
five main subsidiaries.
These subsidiaries and their subsidiaries are therefore are members of the FirstRand
Group include, but are not limited to the following:
FirstRand Bank Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa – provides a comprehensive
range of retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking services in South Africa
and offers niche products in certain international markets.
: FirstRand Bank has three major divisions which are separately branded, i.e.:
First National Bank – FNB is the retail and commercial bank division of FirstRand
Bank.
Rand Merchant Bank – RMB is the corporate and investment division of FirstRand Bank.
WesBank – Is the installment finance division of FirstRand Bank.
WesBank is South Africa’s largest provider of loans for cars.
In addition to the three divisions, FirstRand Bank has branches in London, India and Guernsey,
and representative offices in Kenya, Angola, Dubai and Shanghai.
FirstRand Investment Holdings Proprietary Limited (FREMA) – 100% Shareholding – South
Africa – A holding company for FirstRand Group's financial services companies in the
rest of Africa and other emerging markets.
Subsidiaries held through FREMA include: FirstRand International (Mauritius) – 100%
Shareholding – Mauritius – A holding company for African investments.
First National Bank Botswana Limited – 69% Shareholding – Botswana – A commercial
bank providing retail and corporate banking.
The bank is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange.
First National Bank of Ghana Limited – 100% Shareholding – Ghana – A commercial bank
providing retail and corporate banking.
First National Bank Lesotho Limited – 100% Shareholding – Lesotho – A commercial
bank providing retail and corporate banking.
First National Bank Mozambique Limited – 90% Shareholding – Mozambique – A commercial
bank providing retail and corporate banking.
First National Bank Namibia Limited – 58% Shareholding – Namibia – A commercial
bank providing retail and corporate banking.
The bank is listed on the Namibia Stock Exchange.
OUTsurance Namibia – 51% Shareholding – Namibia – An insurance company in Namibia.
Held through First National Bank Namibia giving the group overall control of 30%.
OUTsurance Holdings holds 49% of the venture.
First National Bank Swaziland Limited – 100% Shareholding – Swaziland – A commercial
bank providing retail and corporate banking.
First National Bank Tanzania Limited – 100% Shareholding – Tanzania – A commercial
bank providing retail and corporate banking.
First National Bank Zambia Limited – 100% Shareholding – Zambia – A commercial bank
providing retail and corporate banking.
RMB Nigeria – 100% – Shareholding – Nigeria – A corporate and investment bank in Nigeria.
FirstRand International Limited (Guernsey) – 100% Shareholding – holding company
for UK banking business: Aldermore Bank Plc – 100% Shareholding – UK
specialist bank FirstRand Investment Holdings Proprietary
Limited (FRIHL) – 100% Shareholding – South Africa – A holding company for FirstRand
Group's other non-banking activities.
Subsidiaries held through FRIHL include: Direct Axis SA (Pty) Ltd – 100% Shareholding
– South Africa – A specialist financial services firm
RMB Private Equity Holdings (Pty) Ltd – 96% Shareholding – South Africa
RMB Private Equity (Pty) Ltd – 93% Shareholding – South Africa
RMB Securities (Pty) Ltd – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
RMB Morgan Stanley (Pty) Ltd – 50% Shareholding – South Africa – A joint venture with
Morgan Stanley.
RMB Australia Holdings Limited – 100% Shareholding – Australia – An investment bank in Australia.
FirstRand Investment Management Holdings Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa – This
is the holding company for the group's asset management activities.
Ashburton Fund Managers (Pty) Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
Ashburton Investor Services (Pty) Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
Ashburton Management Company (Pty) Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
Ashburton Investments International Holdings Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
RMB CIS Management Company (Pty) Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
FirstRand Insurance Holdings (Pty) Ltd – 100% Shareholding – South Africa – This is
the holding company for FirstRand's insurance businesses.
Subsidiaries held through FirstRand Insurance Holdings include:
FirstRand Life Assurance – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
FirstRand Short-Term Insurance Limited – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
FirstRand Insurance Services Company (FRISCOL) – 100% Shareholding – South Africa
== Ownership ==
FirstRand is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Namibian Stock Exchange.
Its major shareholders include: 1→ RMB Holdings large shareholders include
Directors and management of RMBH with 10.4%, Remgro with 28.2% shareholding in RMBH and
Royal Bafokeng Holdings with a 15% stake in RMBH.
2→ Based on its direct and indirect shareholding in FirstRand, Remgro's effective control of
the group is 13.36%
== External links == Official website
== See also == List of banks in South Africa
List of banks in Africa Reserve Bank of South Africa
Rand Merchant Insurance Holdings
== Awards ==
Best Banking Performer, South Africa in 2016 by Global Brands Magazine Award