Today's Labour News

Business Times reports that as the CEOs of two of SA’s biggest financial institutions prepare to step down and other long-serving banking CEOs near their likely retirement age, there is an opportunity for a new guard of banking leaders to step up.

But, it is unclear whether this crucial sector has adequate succession plans in place. Last month Nedbank announced the retirement of CEO Mike Brown, pending the appointment of a successor and the completion of a handover process. In May, Investec Bank SA said CEO Richard Wainwright would step down in 2024 and remain on the executive until his planned retirement in 2025. Stuart Theobald of Intellidex has pointed out that managing the CEO succession process in a bank was particularly important. “The reasons range from maintaining the operations of the bank, meeting the expectations of all stakeholders, from shareholders to staff and, importantly, regulators,” he explained. Theobald said several boards were in the position of needing succession plans for CEOs who have had long tenures. Standard Bank's Sim Tshabalala, FNB's Jacques Celliers and Capitec's Gerrie Fourie are among the longest-serving CEOs in the sector. Succession planning at banks was thrown into the spotlight when Absa CEO Maria Ramos stepped down in 2019. “When Ramos stepped down, it was clear that there was not an immediate successor. It was some time before the appointment of Daniel Mminele was announced,” Theobald recalled. He went on to note that Mminele held the office for just over year before resigning and there was another hiatus during which there was an acting CEO before a permanent appointment was made. “Boards will want to avoid that kind of Absa scenario,” Theobald opined.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Business Times (subscriber access only)

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