Tag archives: Banking

A growing market for green finance

Climate change is no longer a future threat. The associated risks have already had a devastating impact on the financial sector. Financial institutions are financially exposed to the physical risks associated with more frequent severe weather events, as well as the transition risks associated with the changes necessary to achieve a low-carbon economy. Mortgage, commercial … Continue reading

An increased costs trap – Practical advice for SA Financial Institutions

The Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) was introduced with the implementation of Basel III, and is designed to ensure that financial institutions have the necessary assets on hand to ride out short-term liquidity disruptions. Two important elements of the LCR that are especially relevant to South African banks are: 1.   The LCR in South Africa was … Continue reading

Class actions in the banking industry

The global banking industry has seen an increasing number of class actions being brought against it. In August 2014 an application for class action certification was launched against a number of Australian banks in New South Wales. The class potentially consists of hundreds of thousands of bank customers who were allegedly charged excessive credit card … Continue reading

Sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian entities

The European Union, the USA and Canada have imposed sanctions on a number of Russian and Ukrainian individuals and legal entities. The nature and scope of the sanctions are explained in this briefing. If a bank has entered into credit risk mitigation arrangements with Russian or Ukrainian counterparties, or relating to Russian or Ukrainian assets, … Continue reading

The nature of bank notes: money is money

The nature of bank notes is not often discussed and it plays an increasingly limited role in financial transactions.  In the hope of avoiding a revised valued-added tax assessment, a litigant made some imaginative submissions about the nature of bank notes in Master Currency v CSARS. The business of the litigant sold foreign currency in … Continue reading
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