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Maria Ramos, Executive Director of Absa Group, will retire at the end of February 2019.
Maria has been Chief Executive Officer of the Group since 2009. She has led the Group through important steps such as: the acquisition of Barclays' banking subsidiaries in Africa; the sale and start of Barclays' separation, establishing a new strategy as an autonomous financial institution and brand renewal in South Africa.
The Board has appointed René van Wyk as Acting General Manager effective March 1, 2019.
René has been a non-executive director of the board of directors since February 2017. Previously, he was bank registrar at the South African Reserve Bank. He retired in May 2016. René had 19 years of experience at Nedbank, including as Executive Director. risk for the investment bank Nedcor listed on the stock market. He was also General Manager of Imperial Bank.
René will remain a member of the Board of Directors and will be clbadified as Executive Director as of February 1, 2019.
Absa will announce a permanent appointment to the position of General Manager of the group when the time comes, following the finalization of the current process of appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer and the required regulatory approvals.
"On behalf of the boards of directors, I would like to thank Maria for a decade of dedicated service within our group and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. Absa is a different company than Maria joined in 2009. Instead of being a South African bank, she is now a pan-African financial services provider, present in ten African countries. She will leave the group with our top priorities on the right track, including the separation of Barclays and the implementation of our corporate strategy, "said Absa Group President Wendy Lucas-Bull.
"I had never intended to stay that long, because I always thought that the mandate of a CEO should allow a regular update. The decision by Barclays PLC in 2016 to sell its controlling stake, a unique set of circumstances requiring continuity, has limited my previous intentions to resign. So, with my sixtieth birthday, I made the decision to give way to a new general manager to lead the group on the next stage of his exciting journey, "said Ms. Ramos.
"I would like to thank the Board members and Exco, past and present, for all the support they have provided over the years. I am also grateful to be able to lead an organization with committed colleagues, "she said.
Maria has led the group through a number of important milestones since 2009. She joined Absa in the midst of the financial crisis and led the group through this. Under his leadership, Absa acquired Barclays' eight African affiliates for 18.3 billion rubles in 2013, the largest ever acquisition in Africa by a South African bank. This transformed the composition of the group's activities, with the rest of Africa generating 20% of the group's profits in the first half. Over the past 10 years, the Group has been transformed into a pan-African financial services provider.
Background of Maria
Maria has also appropriately led the organization through a period of challenges, including the disruption of the South African financial markets in December 2015 and issues related to the Protecteur du citoyen report.
She also led the Barclays' separation negotiations with Barclays, which resulted in an initial contribution of R12.6 billion plus R.2 billion for BEE. The sale of PLC involved two editions of books, the second representing a value of 38 billion rand, a record for South Africa. Maria oversaw the early stages of separation, updating the Absa brand and achieving regulatory deconsolidation.
She has also piloted the company's new growth strategy as an independent financial institution. Over the last decade, Absa has increased dividends per share by 82% compared to last June and paid a special dividend of 6 billion rubles in 2013. The balance sheet of the Absa group has also been strengthened, with a Tier ratio of 1 up to 12.8% according to Basel III. 11.6%.
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