Marcus fights off greedy punters

The Reserve Bank faces a challenge driven by a small group of shareholders trying to make profit at the expense of the national interest, Bank governor Gill Marcus said yesterday.

The government and the Bank said some shareholders were pushing for nationalisation so that they could be paid for their shares.

"The institution faces a challenge, ostensibly lacking in principle and evidently driven by the self-interested profit motive of a very small minority of shareholders," Marcus said in a letter to shareholders, published on the Bank's website. "This small minority does not appear to care about the national interests of South Africa."

The Bank is one of the few central banks in the world to still be owned by private shareholders, a system originally meant to give South Africans a chance to own a small number of shares.

"Profit making should never be a motive for holding shares in the Bank. The Bank is neither designed nor expected to maximise profits," Marcus said.

Shareholders are entitled to appoint half of the board of directors but have no say in the day-to-day operations, or policies, of the bank.

Source: Times Online