Shinsei banking head moves to Standard

Johannesburg - South Africa's Standard Bank Group [JSE:SBK]has hired the former head of retail banking at Japan's Shinsei Bank, the second high-profile banker to join the company in recent weeks to support expansion plans.

Standard Bank, Africa's largest lender by assets, is looking to position itself as a full-service gateway to Africa and tap into growing trade flows between Asia and the resource-rich continent.

It also needs to improve its retail performance in much of Africa, analysts say, where it faces deepening competition.

Standard Bank has hired Sandeep Deobhakta, formerly the chief operating officer of Shinsei's retail unit, a spokesman for the Johannesburg-based lender confirmed on Wednesday.   

A source told Reuters earlier that Deobhakta had been hired to help boost Standard Bank's retail presence across the continent.

A mid-size Japanese lender, Shinsei has struggled to remain profitable in recent years. However, its retail banking business was a trend-setter in Japan, introducing 24-hour ATMs and other services to a country where retail banking lags behind the West.

Deobhakta will relocate to South Africa from Japan, said the source.

Deobhakta's hiring follows that of Hasan Khan, formerly the head of Africa transaction banking at Standard Chartered.

South African and Western banks are increasingly targeting Africa's fast-growing economies. Barclays () owns a majority share of South Africa's Absa Group [JAE:ASA], while HSBC () has said it is in talks to buy up to 70 percent of Nedbank [JSE:NBKP], South Africa's No.4 lender.