Chief executive Brian Riley drops bombshell, and announces that he’s leaving
AFRICAN Bank chief executive Brian Riley yesterday informed the retail bank’s board of his intentions to step down from his position.
The bank announced yesterday that Riley said his resignation would be with effect from March 31 next year and that he had accepted an invitation to remain on the board as a director from April 1.
A potential successor to Riley, Basani Maluleke, was identified earlier this year and was appointed to the executive team on July 3. The retail bank said the process of inducting Maluleke had been under way over the past few months.
Maluleke has been a board member of the African Bank Group since July 2015.
Riley joined African Bank as chief executive designate on May 1, 2015, and assumed the role of chief executive of the newly restructured group when the bank launched on April 4, last year.
He was tasked with the responsibility to oversee a strategic platform on which to build a sustainable retail bank. The bank said it had been gaining traction on all elements of the strategy.
Riley said: “I am delighted with the progress we have made and although my role will change from April next year, I remain convinced that the path we have chosen is the right one and more importantly, that we have the right people in place to achieve our ambitious goal to be a highly respected South African retail bank.”
The group’s chairperson, Louis von Zeuner, said Riley had been instrumental in refocusing and overseeing the establishment of the strategic platform for the group. “We are pleased that he has accepted our invitation to remain on the board as a non-executive director after he steps down as chief executive in March.
“This will enable the team to leverage his knowledge gained at African Bank as well extensive knowledge as a seasoned banker,” he said.
African Bank under Riley’s leadership restarted trading in April last year, following its collapse in 2014. It was saved from bankruptcy last year through a R10 billion capital injection.
The bank swung to R315 million in profits in the six months to March this year from a R1.6bn loss last year.
Riley’s potential successor Maluleke, 40, has a BComm LLB from the University of Cape Town and an MBA from Kellogg and is an admitted attorney. She has more than 10 years of financial services experience and has worked for Edward Nathan Friedland, FirstRand’s RMB division as well as FNB division.
The bank said Maluleke was appointed as chief of operations in July and since then has been working closely with the executive team and the bank to assume the role of chief executive.
African Bank also announced that Ignatius Sehoole, a director on the board, had resigned to pursue other interests.
The Bank is scheduled to announce its year-end results in early December.