Barclays Bank Won’t Sell Absa

VENTURES AFRICA – Despite the fact that a fine has been imposed on Barclays, analyst believes it won’t sell Absa. This comes on the heels of assumptions and speculations about the fate of Absa in the wake of rate-rigging scandal which has made the future of Absa Group uncertain.

In an interview with Fin24, Patrice Rassou, investment analyst at Sanlam Investment Management, said doesn’t believe that Barclays would sell Absa.

“The fine imposed on Barclays was just over £200 million ($310 million) vs over £3 billion ($4.7 billion) in profit,” he said.

Since a scandal over traders’ manipulation of London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) which is used worldwide as a benchmark for prices on about $350 trillion of financial products was exposed; Britain’s third-largest bank, Barclays has been shaken and there are suggestions that it might sell its shares of Absa Group to pay the fine.

As a result of the scandal, three of the Barclays’ top executives, including CEO Bob Diamond, resigned under pressure from the Bank of England and the financial regulator.