JOHANNESBURG, March 1 (ANA) – Maria Ramos, the chief executive of Barclays Africa Group, on Tuesday reassured investors and clients that the bank’s operations would not be affected at all by Barclay’s Plc decision to reduce its shareholding in Africa.
This follows confirmation earlier on Tuesday that Britain’s Barclays Bank Plc intended to sell down its 62.3 percent interest in Barclays Africa Group over the next two to three years.
In a media briefing, Ramos said the Barclays Africa Group Limited strategy in Africa will not be changing just because their shareholding is changing.
“Our business and strategy does not change despite the fact that our shareholding will,” Ramos said.
“In 2013 we applied for Barclays operations and we purchased those operations. Those operations are actually owned not by Barclays Plc but by Barclays Africa, which is an independently listed entity on the JSE with an independent with a balance sheet of over R1 trillion. Whether Barclays Plc wants to stay invested at 62.3 percent or not, we are still an independently listed entity.”
According to a statement released by Barclays Africa earlier on Tuesday, the reason Barclays Plc would reduce its shareholding was “due to recently introduced regulatory burdens specific and particular to Barclays Plc as a UK-headquartered and globally significant financial institution”.
Ramos said Barclays Africa would enter into negotiations with prospective investors as soon as the unbundling by Barclays Plc had passed all regulatory requirements it is subjected to.
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) was quoted on Monday saying it was keen to increase its stake in Barclays Africa from 5.4%would wait “for a formal announcement” and a deal on the table before it could act.
Ramos added that Barclays Plc had not officially notified Barclays Africa of this decision until Tuesday morning as that would have constituted insider trading. – African News Agency (ANA)
