Standard Bank Group has asked the North Gauteng High Court to prevent President Jacob Zuma and any of his ministers from intervening in its decision to close company accounts associated with Gupta-linked Oakbay, Fin24 reported today.
This is according to an affidavit filed by the bank in the court on Wednesday, which details how the company came under pressure after closing accounts belonging to the Oakbay companies.
"The public campaign and political pressure brought to bear upon Standard Bank to review and revers its decision ... was orchestrated by Oakbay and its associated entities which relied on their apparent political connections and influence in government to mount them," said Standard Bank's general counsel Ian Sinton.
"The pressure brought to bear on Standard Bank, in the context described above and at the instance of Oakbay and its associated entities, is unprecedented, and to the best of my knowledge has not been experienced by it or any of the members of the Standard Bank group, in connection with or arising from a decision to terminate a banker-customer relationship, with any of its erstwhile customers," said Sinton.
FirstRand Group which incorporates amongst others First National Bank, was the first bank to publicly state the reasons for terminating all accounts belonging to Oakbay Investments, which is controlled by the notorious Gupta family. Chairperson Laurie Dippennaar explained the reasoning behind the move in an extract from the chairman's report in the group's annual report, which you can read here.