Major South African banking group, FirstRand, is to open a Guernsey branch.
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) has issued a deposit-taking licence to FirstRand Bank's Guernsey branch. The new banking operation will trade as FNB Channel Islands and will launch formally next year.
FirstRand already has a presence in Guernsey as it provides a wide range of fiduciary services through FNB International Trustees – the specialist international offshore service provider of the FirstRand Group.
FirstRand is South Africa’s largest bank by market capitalisation and this new branch will bring the total number of licensed banks in Guernsey to 31.