Johannesburg - South Africa is well positioned to become the home of the Brics development bank, according to a report on Tuesday.
"We have one of the most highly ranked financial systems globally," Standard Bank Group [JSE:SBK] joint chief executive Sim Tshabalala was quoted as saying in Business Report.
He was speaking during a panel discussion in Durban on Sunday. He reportedly said South Africa was ideal to house the bank because of its solid financial legal framework, auditing abilities, and concrete international financial connections.
The fifth Brics summit would start on Tuesday evening with an opening ceremony and a banquet hosted by President Jacob Zuma.
Brics is a group of developing nations consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. This is the first Brics summit on African soil.
On Monday, Zuma said the heads of state of the Brics countries would attend the summit. Several agreements would be signed, cementing economic ties between China and South Africa.
Zuma said a declaration on strategic partnerships between Russia and South Africa would be signed in fields such as defence, education, energy, science, technology, and transport.
South Africa will chair the group for 12 months after Durban and then hand over to Brazil.
During the summit, Brics finance ministers will present the results of a feasibility study on a Brics development bank.