South Africa Standard Bank: Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said empowerment plans from Barclays Plc
, Standard Chartered Plc , Old Mutual Plc and its two banking subsidiaries as well as South Africa Standard Bank and African banking group Ecobank were consistent with the law, according to Euro News. I am pleased to advise that all the affected foreign-owned financial institutions operating in Zimbabwe have submitted credible indeginisation plans before the deadline of the 31st March 2016, Chinamasa said in a statement. Under an Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act all foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe were given a March 31 deadline to sell at least 51 percent of their holdings or have their licences cancelled, part of President Robert Mugabe black empowerment drive. Chinamasa is leading efforts to end Zimbabwe isolation from the West and trying to woo the International Monetary Fund, which has previously said the government should ease up its economic empowerment law to attract investment. Under the empowerment rules, foreign-owned financial services companies will have to sell at least 20 percent of shares directly to locals, while empowerment credits, such as funding for agriculture and youth and women programmes, make up the balance. His comments come two days after another cabinet minister said most foreign banks and mining companies in Zimbabwe had not complied with Thursday deadline to transfer majority shares to locals. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news. Tagged under South Africa Standard Bank, Standard Chartered Plc topics.