Banks with grubby fingers beware

It should be worrying for President Jacob Zuma’s government that it is Peter Hain who has raised allegations about HSBC accounts controlled by the Gupta family. Lord Hain, a former UK Labour cabinet minister, worked doggedly to internationalise the campaign against apartheid, leading calls for a South African sports boycott.

Friends of SA such as Hain, who was raised in the country, are especially aggrieved to see the Zuma administration robbing the postapartheid state of its legitimacy. They are increasingly determined to assist South African activists in internationalising the anticorruption agenda.

The grubby nexus between the Gupta business empire and Zuma’s administration epitomises the rot. It has exposed how far the integrity of government institutions, including the national prosecutor’s office, have been undermined. As is often the case, the skulduggery involved would not have been possible without international enablers. Bell Pottinger, the UK public relations company, has been dissolved as a result of its involvement. Consultants McKinsey are squirming. Auditor KPMG is struggling to keep its South African business alive. All three allegedly turned a blind eye to the process of “state capture” inherent in relations between the Zuma administration and the Gupta family — both of whom deny any wrongdoing.

If Lord Hain is correct, HSBC, one of the UK’s most important banks, is also in the line of fire. He has also singled out the UK’s Standard Chartered, which similarly held accounts for the Guptas. Lord Hain observes that some banks do not appear to learn from their mistakes. Both HSBC and Standard Chartered have made much of their efforts to clean up their act. There are now doubts as to whether HSBC, in particular, went far enough.

Lord Hain is right to call for an investigation. Holding global institutions to account is a crucial way to protect sovereign states from corrupt networks. Those who would prey on weak states should not be allowed to have the last laugh. London, November 5.