Appointment of Registrar and Deputy Registrars of Banks

The South African Reserve Bank hereby announces the following appointments:

1. Mr Rene van Wyk as Registrar of Banks;

2. Mr Nkosana Samuel Mashiya as Deputy Registrar of Banks; and

3. Mr Robert Hunter Urry as Deputy Registrar of Banks.

These appointments have been made with the approval of the Minister of Finance, Mr PJ Gordhan, in terms of section 4 of the Banks Act, 1990. The positions are statutory appointments in terms of the Banks Act.

 As Registrar, Mr Van Wyk's primary responsibility will be to ensure the safety and soundness of banks and banking groups registered in South Africa, through the effective application of domestic and international regulatory and supervisory standards and best practice. This entails, among other things, ensuring the existence of sound risk management practices in the commercial banks, sound corporate governance structures, fit-and-proper management and financial stability. Furthermore, the Registrar is responsible for the registration and deregistration of banks and handling litigation by and against the Office of Banks.

Mr Van Wyk is currently Executive Head of Risk at Nedbank Capital. His responsibilities include credit risk management, market risk monitoring, legal risk, financial modelling and management information and new product approval. He joined the Nedbank Group 1993 and has held various senior positions within the Group. In order to ensure a period of distancing from the Nedbank Group from a regulatory perspective, Mr Van Wyk shall not, in any manner, deal with any matters relating to the Nedbank Group Limited for a period of six months, effective from his appointment on 1November 2011. Mr van Wyk holds a BCompt from the University of Johannesburg and a BCompt Honours from the University of South Africa. He is also qualified Chartered Accountant.

Mr Mashiya currently holds the position of Acting Managing Director of the Co-operative Banks Development Agency. This is a unit in the National Treasury that was established to regulate, promote and develop co-operative banking, including deposit-taking and lending co-operatives. Prior to this, Mr Mashiya was Chief Director for Banking Development and Financial Access in the National Treasury. He is the chairperson of the Financial Sector Charter Council, a position which he will relinquish when he assumes his office as Deputy Registrar on 1November 2011.Mr Mashiya holds a MComm in Economics from the University of Johannesburg.

Mr Rob Urry was an Assistant General Manager in the SARB's Bank Supervision Department, in charge of managing capital risks. My Urry joined the South African Reserve Bank in 2005. His term of office as Deputy Registrar is effective from

5 October 2011. He holds a Bsc in Engineering and MBL from the University of South Africa.

Statement issued by Hlengani Mathebula, Head: Strategy and Communications, South African Reserve Bank, October 6 2011

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter