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South Africa
and the Region: Economic
Policy, Financial System, Financial Institutions, Investment, Markets and Regulation
The Guide
to the Southern African Financial Services Industry
FSF
brings you information
on financial services, economic policy, financial
institutions, financial markets, financial regulation and payment systems in South Africa and
elsewhere.
FSF also provides a directory to
relevant Web sites, and through the selected links,
reduces your search time.
See What's
New, below - scroll down
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Keep Abreast of ...
The
Obama banking plan explained Friday,
05 February 2010
US President Barack Obama recently announced perhaps his
most controversial and populist action; new taxes on banks and
restrictions on proprietary trading.
This new phase stems not from a crisis in banks, but the
opposite; a quick rebound of global banking profits. This has precipitated
a new problem for banks; a political problem based on the feeling they got
off lightly after being saved by taxpayers, and a simultaneous structural
problem that banks have grown too big to fail.
Banks have been on a new spree, using the cheap money
offered to harvest large profits in the midst of a supposed downturn, and
the public is furious, particularly when they hear of the return of the
super-bonuses.
The practice of banking might be complex but its basis
is simple. Banks borrow short and lend long, so are always vulnerable to
sudden collapse, and the question is how to prevent that happening.
Obama’s answer is to tax them and use this money to
provide an increased level of insurance, while reining them in to limit
the size of the crisis should they fail. Conceptually this is
unimpeachable but in practice it’s a headache.
Obama promised that never again would the American
taxpayer be held hostage by a bank that is “too big to fail”.
The definition of proprietary trading is difficult to
determine. The reason proprietary trading is not broken out is that it’s
one of investment banks’ big secrets. Essentially it is the amounts a
bank invests on its own account as opposed to those it invests for
clients. Yet the information that motivates these amounts is often gleaned
from client relationships. Hence, if a client asks for a loan to buy two
new huge coal power stations, you can be sure someone on the proprietary
trading desk is buying up a small mountain of coal futures.
[...]
Continue reading on the Financial
Regulation Forum
See previous
briefings (last: Global regulatory reform hangs in the balance) in the Briefings
section of the Financial Regulation
Forum
Keep Abreast of ...
is inspired by Teaching
Sells and hosted in
the US by Bluehost
__________ |
Topical
 | Financial
institutional structure
Following recent statements by the ANC and its
Alliance partners, we wish to facilitate discussion on the South
African financial system and its institutional infrastructure -
Treasury; Reserve Bank; Financial Services Board; banks, etc.;
monetary policy; regulation; stability; payment systems; and
nationalisation. |
| Zumanomics:
Which way to shared prosperity in South Africa? Challenge for new
government,
Editor Raymond Parsons.
South Africa stands at an historical
political and economic crossroad in 2009. Globally the widespread
world recession has serious consequences for the slowing South
African economy. |
| Financial news from South
African online news publications.
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| The Economist's Big
Mac index seeks to make exchange-rate theory more
digestible. It is arguably the world's most accurate financial
indicator to be based on a fast-food item. |
| Property analyses are in the Assets
and investments section |
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Convert from South African Rand (or any other currency) to
any other currency.
Includes all African currencies. Historical exchange rates also
available in tabular format.
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What's new
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
| Standard Bank has produced a paper on the SA
Medium Term Budget Policy Statement and Medium Term Expenditure
Framework, MTEF
October 2009 
(PDF), it is indexed in the Economic
information section. |
| The fourth quarter Absa Housing
Review is available
(PDF), it is indexed in the Assets
& investments section. |
| Standard
Bank's Mauritius: Mid-year Economic Outlook
(PDF) is available, it is
indexed in The
Africa region section. |
| The [SA] Monetary Policy Committee decided to
leave the repo rate unchanged at 7,0 per cent per
year, see the latest
Statement
of the Monetary Policy Committee available from the Reserve
Bank,
it is indexed in the System
& markets section. Next meeting on 16 & 17 November 2009. |
| Standard
Bank's Mozambique: Mid-year Economic Outlook
(PDF) is available, it is
indexed in The
Africa region section. |
| Standard
Bank's Macroeconomic
Forecast
(PDF) is available, it is indexed in the Economic
information section. |
| An updated Standard Bank Residential
Property Gauge
is available
(PDF), it is indexed in the
Assets
& investments section. |
| The IMF provides its biannual Global
Financial Stability Report,
it is
indexed in Regulation
& legislation section. |
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Choice,
not fate the life and times of Trevor Manuel: Biography of Trevor
Manuel,
Pippa Green
Trevor Manuel has been South African Minister of
Finance since June 1996. He was born in Cape Town in January 1956 the
son of an employee of the Cape Town City Council. He was involved in
the founding of the UDF in the Western Cape and subsequently became
the regional secretary of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Between
1985-1990 he was repeatedly detained without trial or placed under
house arrest, spending a total of 35 months in detention. In 1992
Manuel became head of the ANC's Department of Economic Planning. After
the April 1994 elections Manuel was appointed Minister of Trade
Industry and in March 1996 he was appointed Minister of Finance
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