A research article submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration Johannesburg, 2018 / Blockchain technology is a foundational technology with various use cases that can significantly impact the manner in which banking is carried out in South Africa. The following paper seeks to put together a framework for understanding the potential effect of blockchain technology on the South African banking environment, with a specific focus on how blockchain technology will impact the South African banking environment (i.e. the applications and use cases) and when this impact will take place. A qualitative approach to addressing the problem statement was adopted, specifically in the form of focus interviews and strategic discussions with subject matter experts in both the blockchain and South African banking environment. Findings indicate that there are number of blockchain applications that can impact the South African banking environment namely, Private Digital Ledgers, Smart Contracts and Tokens/ Cryptocurrencies. Further to this, research indicates that the former is most likely in the short term, while the latter two applications are subject to a high-level stakeholder coordination, a high level of effort in educating the end customer and a high level of friction from existing systems and process, and will therefore only realise mass adoption in the long-term. As a result, this research contributes to providing an initial view of which applications are most likely to be adopted by South African banks and can form the foundation for further research in this area. / E.K. 2019

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Asian financial crisis in mid-1997 highlighted the important role a sound, well regulated and supervised banking industry plays in the economy of a country or region. Although many analysts believe that the Asian crisis arose mainly as a result of factors external to the countries in question, this paper clearly highlights the role fragile banking industries within these countries played in the crisis. The Asian financial crisis was not the first of its kind, with similar crises erupting in Argentina, Mexico and other Latin American countries in the early 1990s. There is a belief that banking crises occur only in emerging and developing countries. Whilst the incidence of crises in emerging markets is higher as a result of higher risk profiles, poor regulation and supervision and government and political interference, the United States Savings and Loan Crisis of the early 1980s is evidence that banking crises are not limited to emerging economies. This study is divided into three parts, namely a theoretical literature study on the soundness of banking systems, an analysis of the Asian financial crisis and an analysis of the South African banking industry, with particular reference to the "Big Four" South African banks. The first part of this study deals with the theory relating to bank soundness, banking in emerging markets and a brief overview of the various risks faced by banks. A theoretical study is also undertaken of the causes of and reasons for individual bank failure, as in the banking industry a crisis of confidence often spills over from an individual bank in distress to other solvent and well operated banks within the industry. This is known as the contagion effect. The second part of the study deals with an in-depth analysis of the causes of the Asian financial crisis, with specific emphasis on the role banks played in fuelling the crisis. Recommended solutions are put forward in an attempt to avoid future possible crises of this magnitude. South Africa is classified as an emerging or developing country by international economists and therefore is often perceived to pose greater risks to foreign investors. The third part of this study deals with an in-depth analysis of the soundness of the South African banking industry concentrating on the financial performance of the "Big Four" - Amalgamated Banks of South Africa Limited, The First Rand Group, Nedcor Limited and Standard Bank Investment Corporation Limited. The "Big Four" make up close to 80% of the total market share of the South African banking industry. One could imply that if the "Big Four" are financially sound, then the South African banking industry could be classified as sound. Past experience has revealed that the failure of a small bank does not have any significant impact on the local banking industry (i.e. no contagion effect). This study will show that there is no single mathematical model available to analyse the probability of bank failure or bank system soundness. Rather a wide range of possible causes, both micro and macro-economic, can influence the soundness of a bank or banking system. The study will reflect that although South Africa may be classified as an emerging economy in view of the characteristics of its economic make-up, the banking industry is by no means "emerging". South Africa has one of the most highly regulated and supervised banking industries in the world. Furthermore, whilst maybe not efficient in terms of utilisation of capital and returns on equity, coupled with fairly high cost structures, the industry is profitable, with adequate margins, substantial reserves and well structured loan risk profiles complemented by sound and conservative management policies, overseen by a highly competent regulatory authority. One could therefore conclude that given the soundness of the "Big Four", the South African banking system may be classified as sound. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Asiatiese finansiële krisis van 1997 het die belangrike rol van 'n gesonde en gereguleerde bankstelsel in die ekonomie van 'n land of streek beklemtoon. Alhoewel baie navorsers glo dat die Asiatiese krisis 'n gevolg was van eksterne faktore buite die beheer van die betrokke nasies, sal hierdie werkstuk klem lê op die rol van wankelrige bankstelsels in hierdie krisis. Die Oosterse finansiële krisis was nie enig in soort nie en is soortgelyk aan krisisse in Agentinië, Mexico en ander Suid-Amerikaanse ekonomië in die vroeë negentigerjare. Daar is 'n verdere opvatting dat finansiële krisisse beperk is tot ontwikkelende nasies as gevolg van hierdie lande se hoër risikoprofiel, onvoldoende wetgewing en toesighouding en politieke inmenging. Tot 'n groot mate is dit wel die geval, maar die 'United States Savings and Loans' krisis in die tagtigerjare het hierdie wanopvatting bevraagteken. Hierdie werkstuk is in drie afdelings verdeel - 'n teoretiese navorsingsprojek oor die stabiliteit van bankstelsels, 'n ontleding van die Asiatiese finansiële krisis en 'n ontleding van die stabiliteit van die Suid-Afrikaanse bankstelsel met verwysing na die "Groot Vier" banke. Die eerste deel van hierdie werkstuk handel oor die teorie van bankstabiliteit, die bankwese in ontwikkelende ekonomië en 'n kort samevatting van die risiko's waaraan banke blootgestel is. Teoretiese navorsing word ook gedoen oor die redes en oorsake van individuele bankmislukkings. Die rede hiervoor is dat 'n vertrouenskrisis in 'n individuele bank dikwels oorvloei na die gesonde banke binne dieselfde industrie. Die term hiervoor is die aansteking -effek. Die tweede deel van hierdie werkstuk dek 'n in-diepte ontleding van die Asiatiese finansiële krisis, met spesifieke verwysing na die rol van banke in die krisis. Aanbevelings word verder gemaak in 'n poging om soortgelyke, toekomstige krisisse te voorkom. Volgens internasionale ekonome is Suid-Afrika 'n ontwikkelende nasie en hou as sulks groter risiko's in vir beleggers. Die derde afdeling van hierdie werkstuk dek 'n in-diepte ontleding oor die stabiliteit van die Suid-Afrikaanse "Groot Vier" banke: Amalgamated Banks of South Africa Beperk, Die First Rand Groep, Nedcor Groep en Standard Bank Investment Corporation Beperk. Die "Groot Vier" beslaan 80% van die totale mark van die Suid-Afrikaanse bankwese. Hiervan kan afgelei word dat sou die "Groot Vier" finansiële stabiliteit ondervind, dan kan die Suid-Afrikaanse bankwese met reg as gesond beskou word. Ondervinding in Suid-Afrika het gewys dat die mislukking van 'n klein bank nie 'n groot invloed op die plaaslike bankwese het nie (die aansteking - effek). Hierdie werkstuk sal aantoon dat daar geen wiskundige of ekonomiese model beskikbaar is om 'n bankmislukking vroegtydig en korrek te voorspel nie - ook nie om die stabiliteit van 'n bankstelsel te waarborg nie. 'n Wye reeks moontlike oorsake, beide mikro- en makro-ekonomies van aard, kan die stabiliteit van 'n bank of die bankwese beïnvloed. Hierdie werkstuk sal deurlopend uitwys dat nieteenstaande Suid-Afrika se status as "ontwikkelende" nasie, die bankwese allermins "ontwikkelend" is. Suid-Afrika het een van die mees gereguleerde bankstelsels in die wêreld. Terwyl die aanwending van kapitaal en die opbrengs daarop nie altyd bevredigend is nie, is die opbrengs vir beleggers redelik hoog en die industrie winsgewend. Winsmarges is groot, diepte in reserves is duidelik teenwoordig en die korrekte, gestruktureerde risiko profiel van leners weerspieël stabiele en konserwatiewe bestuurspraktyke. Samevattend kan gesê word dat danksy die "Groot Vier", die Suid-Afrikaanse bankwese kerngesond is.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Throughout the years, organisations were known for only reporting on their financial position, but due to stakeholders becoming more informed about the sustainability crisis, organisations realised the importance of moving away from only reporting on financial information and are now also including information about the impact of their activities on the society and environment in which they operate in sustainability reports. King II stipulated that organisations should produce a sustainability report during their reporting period, while King III recommends integrated reporting. Integrated reporting suggests that both the annual and sustainability report should be published at the same time. As a result, King III places a lot of emphasis on the alignment risk, performance, strategy and sustainability. This allows the integrated report to supply all stakeholders with forward looking information, as well as strategic direction. The purpose for this research is to evaluate the extent to which organisation in the banking industry disclose information about their strategy. Information were gathered and analysed to determine where aspects of strategy are disclosed at an above average to excellent level or whether strategy disclosure were lacking or below average. This study specifically focussed on information disclosed in the 2010 annual and sustainability reports of organisations in the banking industry such as Absa, Investec, Nedbank, Standard Bank and FirstRand. The study concluded that the level of disclosure for strategic information in annual and sustainability reports for organisations in the banking industry, is average at 53 percent.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / Little research has yet been undertaken in South Africa about commercial banks that are servicing the microenterprise market. The objective for the current research was to investigate the key factors that should be considered by commercial banks in South Africa servicing the microenterprise market. The focus for the study was on identifying the key factors and on investigating how the key factors were being considered. There are a number of case studies documenting the key factors that international commercial banks have considered. However, in South Africa, there are relatively few documented cases, which rightfully confirms that commercial banks providing microfinance to microentrepreneurs are still in a new line of business that is in its early developmental stages. The first part of the current study aimed to identify the key factors that required consideration, which have been well documented in a number of research reports. The focus was also laid on international commercial banks that offered microfinance services, especially to microenterprises. The intention was to obtain an overview of how international banks have considered the key factors concerned. The second part of the research study aimed to see how South African commercial banks have considered the above-mentioned key factors, using Absa and Capitec banks as case studies. The key factors identified are the following: the operating model; the delivery model; institutional commitment; product development; funding; technical assistance; human resource (recruitment, retention and remuneration); and operations (credit methodology; loan appraisals; lending methodology; collections; branch network; and support services). The international commercial banks whose case studies are reviewed include: Banco do Nordeste; Bank Rakyat Indonesia; the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe; the Cooperative Bank of Kenya; Banque du Caire; the Agricultural Bank of Mongolia; Hatton National Bank; the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India; and Banco de la Empressa. From the case studies it was seen that some of the commercial banks considered certain factors more than others. The other differentiating factor is how the key factors were considered, because the operating context of the different commercial banks differs. In South Africa, Absa and Capitec Bank have also considered the key factors, however, the operating model and the delivery model are the biggest differentiator as to how the other factors are considered.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Stakeholders have demanded that strategic disclosure and sustainability reporting of companies are disclosed in more detail in order for the different stakeholders to form an opinion whether to invest, partner and contribute towards the sustainability of the company. Different stakeholders require different disclosure. Various bodies have been formed to established guidelines for sustainable reporting. The Global Reporting Initiative has become the leader in the field and have implemented the fourth generation of their Sustainable Reporting Guidelines. This study was to evaluate the strategic sustainable disclosure of companies in the banking and retail sectors. Five companies from each sector were selected being consistent with previous studies. The previous studies utilised the 2010 and 2011 information with this study focusing on the 2012 company reports. The reports used were the integrated annual reports, sustainability reports and annual financial statements where applicable. Strategic disclosure was evaluated against three different baseline models. Two of these models, being baseline 1 and baseline 2, were used in previous studies with a new baseline being introduced. Baseline 1 was based on the Global Reporting Initiatives third generation guidelines with seven reporting elements. Baseline 2 was based on the elements of the strategic architecture framework with eight reporting elements. Baseline 3 was based on the new Global Reporting Initiatives fourth generation reporting guidelines, which were issued in May 2013. The main differences from the Global Reporting Initiatives third generation and fourth generation was moving previous standard requirements to guidelines and the introduction of new standard disclosures. The study results showed an overall improvement in both sectors for all the companies using baseline 1 and 2 from 2011 to 2012. Baseline 3 differed to baseline 1 in only the organisational profile element with an additional fourteen questions but the removal of four questions. The results of the organisational profile were markedly worse than baseline 1 with an overall drop of 23% and 18% for the banking and retail sector respectively. Baseline 1 should be replaced by baseline 3 moving from the third to fourth generation of the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability guidelines.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa has experienced a significant growth in household unsecured credit extension, igniting concerns around the potential negative impact of household indebtedness on the stability of the banking system. With the use of correlation and ordinary least squares, the study attempts to prove a relationship between growth in unsecured lending (dependent variable) and consumption, lending rates and de-regulation (independent variables). Although there is a correlation between growth in unsecured lending and interest rates, this was not statistically significant. The study also found a strong relationship between unsecured lending and the other independent variables. Due to income and wealth inequality exacerbated by the past political dispensations as well as continued rise in the cost of living, unsecured lending provides a source of supplementary income that allow households to smooth their consumption expenditure over their life-cycle. On a longerterm basis, the country needs to gear itself to focus primarily on channelling resources towards productive investments. Quality education and skills as well as a culture of entrepreneurship and wealth creation should be cultivated at a young age.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / The banking sector allocates a great deal of their annual budget to Information Technology. To maintain and optimise activities such as software licensing, data security, business continuity and upgrading of computer hardware and general technology infrastructure to meet new organisational requirements, huge financial resources are deployed. One innovative approach to meeting these demands is using virtual desktop technology to extend the computer life, reduce IT costs, improve security and increase availability of technology. One may surmise from the experiences of these companies that if banks replace the current personal computers with virtual desktops they may realise the same benefits. With the introduction of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology; the premise is that it will alleviate these issues currently faced by banks as all these functions can be done in one place instead of doing it on every individual PC. This study seeks to explore factors of VDI adoption and its impact in terms of reducing cost, hardware and software management, remote access, improved data security and recovery, better compliance and reduced energy consumption.

Submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters of Arts Degree in Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / This study investigates how language is used to communicate meaning in bank advertisements. It also examines stylistics in advertising with specific focus on selected bank advertisements in South African and Nigerian newspapers and magazines. Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which studies the principles, and effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering thought and emotion under different conditions of communication. Advertising is a form of communication used to help sell products and services. Adverts are not only designed to fascinate, but also to achieve their persuasive goal. This study shows how language is used in bank advertisements to convey messages to the public. The stylistic elements employed in the analysis of bank adverts included graphology, phonology, lexis, syntax and cohesion. The use of capitalization and repetition for emphasis, phonemes and Gothic writing to attract the attention of readers and images to stimulate customers’ aspirations were some of the findings of the study. Given that studies on language use are still of high interest to linguists, this study critically interrogates the effectiveness of language choice in bank advertisements. The conclusion is that stylistic devices are important in advertising as they attract customers to the services and products being advertised. / M

M.Com. (Business Management) / This study focuses on one specific knowledge management process, namely the knowledge sharing process within an operational risk management cluster of a chosen South African retail bank. The study specifically focuses on the bi- weekly meetings that are used as platforms for knowledge sharing sessions. The primary objective of the study, is to ascertain how well the corporate investment bankers, shared services and CIB Africa operational risk management cluster is effectively utilising its meetings in terms of knowledge sharing to ensure that the operational risk management strategies of the chosen bank, provides optimal assurance to its stakeholders that the bank operates within its operational risk appetite. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides the readers with a thorough understanding of the research problem and topic. The second chapter provides the theoretical framework of the literature pertaining to the context of knowledge management with a specific focus of knowledge sharing. The third chapter discusses the research methodology adopted to conduct the study. The fourth chapter discusses the empirical findings and discussion of the study. Lastly, chapter five provides conclusions, recommendations and possibilities for further research. The theoretical framework of study began by focusing broadly on the concept of knowledge management weaving its way to the specific concept of knowledge sharing. A single case research approach was adopted. All respondents were attendants of the bi-weekly knowledge sharing sessions held in the chosen bank. The empirical findings of the study revealed that there is no common awareness and understanding of the concepts of knowledge management and knowledge sharing within the chosen bank. It was further established that factors such as the role of organisational culture, leadership involvement and participation, and rewards and incentives were key factors that had the ability to either enable or hinder the knowledge-sharing within the chosen bank.

M.Com. (Economics) / The objective of the thesis is to examine some of the aspects relating to the nature and scope of the electronification of the South African banking industry and the consequences of such electronification for the rendering of financial services to a market characterised by extreme dualism. The dualistic nature of the South African economy finds expression in a very sophisticated First World economy on the one hand and a very backward Third World economy on the other hand. Approximately 95 per cent of South Africa's economic activity is conducted in the First World economy. The rather well developed industrial, commercial, financial and technological activities are concentrated in the First World areas such as the PWV-area, the Western Cape, Port Elizabeth-Uitenhage and Durban-Pinetown. These areas are supported by modern and highly developed infrastructure [inclusive of a very sophisticated banking industry], skilled manpower and a strongly developed technology. These conditions are contrasted by a Third World sector where less than 5 per cent of the gross national product is produced and a far lesser need for sophisticated banking services exists. The Third World sector has little or no supporting infrastructure and trade is mainly conducted by barter or cash. These highly divergent socio-economic conditions place unique demands and restraints on the banking industry...