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Johannesburg - Commercial banks will officially attempt to salvage the financial black empowerment charter until February through further negotiations with other parties in the Charter Council.
But banking sector sources are not very optimistic that the efforts will succeed.
This comes in the wake of a comment by Nedbank chief executive Tom Boardman that negotiations on the charter will resume.
Boardman declined to comment further on the process, but it is understood that Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan has persuaded the parties to keep trying, at least until the beginning of next year, to reach consensus on the empowerment targets.
Cas Coovadia, chief executive of the Banking Association, has already said that as far as he is concerned the likelihood of the charter's provisions becoming legislation are, so to speak, dead in the water. He would like to see the Charter Council, which monitors the application of the charter, shut its doors.
This led to a vehement outcry from some players, including Cosatu.
The Deutsche Securities banking analyst team says the practical outcome of the stalemate is that banks will have to start complying with the Department of Trade & Industry's stricter empowerment codes. These demand 15% direct ownership, compared with the charter's 10%.
The obstacles to greater empowerment stakes at banks are well evidenced by Absa, which struggled to sell 5% of its equity to the Batho Bonke consortium. The objective remains 10%, but even part of the 5% remains tied to debt.
- Sake24.com
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