as jse fsr industry banking and finance founded 1998 headquarters johannesburg south africa key people lauritz laurie dippenaar chairman johan burger group ceo 1 products loans mortgages transactional services investments debit cards credit cards insurance asset management net income aftertax us 1.8 billion zar 18.7 billion 2014 total assets us 89 billion zar 945.5 billion 2014 2 number of employees 38 989 website homepage firstrand limited also referred to as firstrand group is the holding company of firstrand bank and is a financial services provider in south africa . it is one of the financial services providers licensed by the reserve bank of south africa the national banking regulator . 3 contents 1 overview 2 history 3 member companies 4 ownership 5 external links 6 see also 7 awards 8 references overview edit listed on the jse and the namibian stock exchange firstrand limited is one of the largest financial institutions in south africa and provides banking insurance and investment products and services to retail commercial corporate and public sector customers . in addition to south africa the group operates in eight key african territories namely botswana namibia swaziland lesotho zambia mozambique tanzania and nigeria . firstrand bank has branches in london and india . firstrand executes its strategy through a portfolio of leading financial services franchises ; rand merchant bank rmb the corporate and investment bank ; first national bank fnb the retail and commercial bank ; wesbank an instalment finance provider ; and ashburton investments the group s newly established investment management business . the group has its headquarters in johannesburg south africa . firstrand is one of the five largest banking groups in south africa and sub saharan africa . 4 history edit the firstrand group s history traces back to the 1970s as an investment bank . the group as currently is was established on april 1 1998 through a merger of the financial services interests of anglo american corporation of south africa limited now anglo american plc and rmb holdings rmbh in order to achieve the objective of a unified financial services grouping . 5 these financial services interests were first national bank holdings fnb momentum life assurers limited momentum now part of mmi holdings and the southern life association limited southern life all of which were listed on the jse . 5 fnb and southern life were delisted from the jse and constituted as wholly owned subsidiaries of momentum which was the vehicle to effect the merger . momentum changed its name to firstrand limited and was listed on the johannesburg stock exchange on may 25 1998 with anglo american and rmb holdings holding 20.43 % and 25.03 % of the authorized capital of firstrand respectively . 6 anglo american has since shed off its entire shareholding . 7 post merger events saw the merging of rand merchant bank and fnb to form firstrand bank limited with the two units remaining to trade as divisions of firstrand bank limited and the transfer of momentum s insurance business to that of into southern life to form firstrand insurance limited . 6 firstrand is listed as a locally controlled bank by the south african reserve bank the national banking regulator . 8 the group has subsidiaries in south africa and in the neighbouring countries of botswana mozambique namibia lesotho and zambia . 9 first rand also has interests in australia and india . 10 the group has expressed interest in expanding its operations into angola and nigeria . 11 in may 2012 kenyan press reports indicated that the group was making plans to expand into kenya rwanda and uganda . 12 in november 2012 the central bank of nigeria issued the first merchant banking licences in more than a decade to firstrand bank and another local firm . 13 member companies edit first rand group holds its investments through four main subsidiaries . these subsidiaries and their subsidiaries are therefore are members of the first rand group include but are not limited to the following 14 firstrand bank limited 100 % shareholding south africa a financial service institution providing comprehensive range of retail commercial corporate and investment banking services in south africa and certain international markets . firstrand bank operates through three major divisions i.e. 15 first national bank fnb is the retail and commercial bank division of firstrand bank . rand merchant bank rmb is the corporate and investment division of firstrand bank . wesbank is the installment finance division of firstrand bank . wesbank is south africa s largest provider of loans for cars . 16 in addition to the three divisions firstrand bank has branches in london and india 17 and representative offices in kenya angola dubai and shanghai . subsidiaries held by firstrand bank include frb representacoes e participacoes 100 % shareholding brazil a fund management company . capricorn fund managers 21 % shareholding south africa a fund management company . truffle asset management 44 % shareholding south africa a fund management company . firstrand investment holdings proprietary limited frema 100 % shareholding south africa a holding company for firstrand group s financial services companies in the rest of africa and other emerging markets . subsidiaries held through frema include firstrand international mauritius 100 % shareholding mauritius a holding company for african investments . first national bank botswana limited 69 % shareholding botswana a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . the bank is listed on the botswana stock exchange . 18 first national bank of ghana limited 100 % shareholding ghana a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . first national bank lesotho limited 100 % shareholding lesotho a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . first national bank mozambique limited 90 % shareholding mozambique a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . first national bank namibia limited 58 % shareholding namibia a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . the bank is listed on the namibia stock exchange . outsurance namibia 51 % shareholding namibia an insurance company in namibia . held through first national bank namibia giving the group overall control of 30 % . outsurance holdings holds 49 % of the venture . first national bank swaziland limited 100 % shareholding swaziland a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . first national bank tanzania limited 100 % shareholding tanzania a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . first national bank zambia limited 100 % shareholding zambia a commercial bank providing retail and corporate banking . rmb nigeria 100 % shareholding nigeria a corporate and investment bank in nigeria . firstrand investment holdings proprietary limited frihl 100 % shareholding south africa a holding company for firstrand group s other non banking activities . subsidiaries held through frihl include direct axis sa pty ltd 66 % shareholding south africa a specialist financial services firm that provides clients with personal loans car loans home loans and life insurance . 19 firstrand international limited 100 % shareholding guernsey rentworks africa pty ltd 100 % shareholding an asset rental company with subsidiaries in south africa kenya namibia and australia providing businesses with finance and operating leases . 20 rmb private equity holdings pty ltd 96 % shareholding south africa rmb private equity pty ltd 93 % shareholding south africa rmb securities pty ltd 100 % shareholding south africa rmb morgan stanley pty ltd 50 % shareholding south africa an investment bank in south africa . a joint venture with morgan stanley . rmb australia holdings limited 100 % shareholding australia an investment bank in australia . ashburton investments holdings limited ashburton 100 % shareholding south africa this is firstrand group s asset management arm . ashburton provides unique investment opportunities to individual and institutional investors and professional advisers . ashburton has offices in south africa the united kingdom channel islands united arab emirates and india . subsidiaries held through ashburton include 21 ashburton fund managers pty limited 100 % shareholding south africa ashburton investor services pty limited 100 % shareholding south africa ashburton management company pty limited 100 % shareholding south africa ashburton investments international holdings limited 100 % shareholding south africa rmb cis management company pty limited 100 % shareholding south africa firstrand insurance holdings 100 % shareholding south africa this is firstrand group s insurance arm . subsidiaries held through firstrand insurance holdings include 22 firstrand life assurance 100 % shareholding south africa ownership edit firstrand is listed on the johannesburg stock exchange and namibian stock exchange . its major shareholders include 23 first rand limited stock ownership rank name of owner percentage ownership 1 rmb holdings1 33.9 2 remgro2 3.9 3 firstrand empowerment trust and related parties 08.1 4 institutional and private investors on the jse limited 45.5 total 100.00 1 rmb holdings large shareholders include directors and management of rmbh with 10.4 % remgro with 27.9 % shareholding in rmbh and royal bafokeng holdings with a 15 % stake in rmbh . 2 based on its direct and indirect shareholding in first rand remgro s effective control of the group is 13.36 % external links edit official website see also edit list of banks in south africa list of banks in africa reserve bank of south africa rand merchant insurance holdings awards edit best banking performer south africa in 2016 by global brands magazine award . 24 references edit firstrand appoints nxasana as group ceo business mail & guardian online . mg.co.za . retrieved 2010 12 09 . firstrand financial snapshot list of locally controlled banks in south africa africa sixteen local banks in africa s top 100 . allafrica.com . 6 october 2010 . retrieved 2010 12 09 . a b first rand abridged revised listing particulars . imara investing in africa . first rand limited . may 25 1998 . retrieved november 16 2014 . a b first rand annual 1999 report pdf . first rand limited . june 30 1998 . retrieved november 16 2014 . anglo american disposes of its remaining stake in firstrand . press releases . anglo american plc. january 27 2004 . retrieved november 16 2014 . list of licensed financial institutions in south africa south africa s first national bank fnb to start operations in zambia . zambianchronicle.com . 27 january 2009 . retrieved 2010 12 09 . history of firstrand corporation firstrand eyeing sterling bank in nigeria firstrand expanding into eastern africa nigeria cbank issues firstrand with merchant bank license international reuters 2012 firstrand annual integrated report 2014 pdf . firstrand . june 30 2014 . retrieved december 24 2014 . firstrand bank limited annual report for the year ended june 30 2014 pdf . firstrand bank . june 30 2014 . retrieved december 24 2014 . 1 q & a krishnamoorthy harihar treasurer firstrand bank india . business standard.com . 15 june 2010 . retrieved 2010 12 09 . first national bank botswana limited . botswana stock exchange . retrieved december 24 2014 . about direct axis . direct axis . retrieved december 24 2014 . rentworks credentials . rentworks ltd. retrieved december 24 2014 . ashburton investments about us . ashburton investments . retrieved december 24 2014 . firstrand 2015 annual report pdf . firstrand . 2015 12 31 . retrieved 2016 10 04 . http www.firstrand.co.za 13 ownership and operating structure global brands magazine award 2016 winners v t e banks of south africa central bank south african reserve bank the big four commercial banks absa first national bank fnb nedbank standard bank other african bank bidvest bank capitec bank firstrand bank grindrod bank imperial bank south africa investec vbs mutual bank sasfin bank teba bank limited postbank development bank of southern africa land and agricultural development bank of south africa defunct 20twenty african banking corporation allied bank colesberg bank nbs permanent bank saambou trustbank united bank retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title first rand & oldid 742584223 categories banks of south africacompanies of south africabanks established in 1998companies established in 19981998 establishments in south africacompanies listed on the