Editing Standard Bank (section)

==History==
The bank now known as Standard Bank was formed in 1862 as a South African subsidiary of the British overseas bank Standard Bank, under the name '''The Standard Bank of South Africa'''.

The bank's origins can be traced to 1862, when a group of businessmen led by the prominent [[South Africa]]n politician [[John Paterson (Cape politician)|John Paterson]]<ref name="Amphlett-3">{{cite book|last=Amphlett|first=George Thomas|title=History of the Standard Bank of South Africa ltd., 1862-1913|publisher=Glasgow, Printed by R. Maclehose|year=1914|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofstandar00amphuoft#page/3/mode/1up|chapter=I - Establishment of the Standard Bank of British South Africa, now called the Standard Bank of South Africa|pages=3}}</ref><ref>Walker, Eric Anderson (1929). ''The Cambridge History of the British Empire''. CUP Archive. p.381</ref> formed a bank in [[London]], initially under the name [[Standard Bank of British South Africa]]. The bank started operations in 1863 in [[Port Elizabeth]], [[South Africa]], and soon after opening it merged with several other banks including the ''Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth'', the [[Colesberg Bank]], the [[British Kaffraria]]n Bank and the ''Fauresmith Bank''.

It was prominent in financing and development of the diamond fields of [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] in 1867. The word "British" was dropped from the title in 1883.  When [[gold]] was discovered on the [[Witwatersrand]], the bank expanded northwards and on 11 October 1886 the bank started doing business in a tent at [[Ferreira's Camp]] (later to be called [[Johannesburg]]),<ref name="Mus01">{{Cite book |last=Musiker |first=Naomi |url=http://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000musi |title=Historical dictionary of Greater Johannesburg |publisher=Scarecrow Press |others=Internet Archive |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8108-3520-7 |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=47}}</ref> thus becoming the first bank to open a branch on the Witwatersrand gold fields. On 1 November 1901 a second branch was opened in Eloff Street of [[Johannesburg]].
[[File:Standardbank.jpg|thumb|261px|Standard Bank in [[Adderley Street]], Cape Town]]]

Until 1962 the British bank was formally known as the Standard Bank of South Africa, although by then its operations spread across Africa. When the South African operations were formed into a subsidiary in 1962, the parent changed its name to Standard Bank Limited, and the South African subsidiary took its parent's previous name.

In 1967 shares in the Standard Bank of South Africa were offered to the South African public, although the British parent company retained over 80% of the shares.<ref name=history>[http://www.standardbank.com/SB-Historical-Overview-6th-ed-2009.pdf Standard Bank Group: Historical Overview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113034632/http://www.standardbank.com/SB-Historical-Overview-6th-ed-2009.pdf |date=13 January 2012 }}</ref>

The parent bank merged in 1969 with [[Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China]] and the combined bank became known as [[Standard Chartered Bank]].  In 1969 the Standard Bank Investment Corporation (now Standard Bank Group) was established as the holding company of the South African bank.  During the 1970s and 1980s Standard Chartered gradually reduced its shareholding, and sold its remaining 39% stake in Standard Bank Group in 1987, transferring complete ownership of the holding company to South African investors and in particular Liberty Life (and its affiliates), with the latter being the company's major shareholder until 1999.<ref name=history />

In March 2019, Standard became the first bank in Africa to shift its operations onto [[Amazon Web Services]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2019/03/29/africas-largest-bank-chooses-amazon-for-big-cloud-shift/#71f19366296a|title = Africa's Largest Bank Chooses Amazon to Become Continent's "First Bank in the Cloud"| website=[[Forbes]] }}</ref>

In March 2019, the bank announced a reduction of 91 branches and 1200 staff. The decision was taken due to a growing use of self-service channels and a branch network becoming less relevant.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-03-15 |title=Standard Bank to shut 91 branches as customers go digital |url=https://techcentral.co.za/standard-bank-to-shut-91-branches-as-customers-go-digital/178525/ |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=TechCentral |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.standardbank.co.za/southafrica/news-and-media/newsroom/standard-bank-south-africa-implements-a-new-banking-delivery-model | title=Standard Bank South Africa implements a new banking delivery model }}</ref>{{Verification needed|date=December 2024}}

In July 2021, Standard Bank announced that it would increase its stake in [[Liberty Holdings Limited|Liberty Holdings]], a South African insurance company, from 54% to 100%, for $594 million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-07-15 |title=S.Africa's Standard Bank to buy remaining Liberty stake for $729 million. |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-m-a-standard-bank-liberty-idUSKBN2EL0K3 |access-date=2022-06-27}}</ref>