Bank’s step to stop money laundering

Responding to finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s application for the court to declare that the government had no authority to intervene in the decision by four major banks — Standard Bank, FNB, Absa and Nedbank — to terminate their business relationships with the Guptas, FirstRand CEO Johan Burger said in a December 2016 affidavit: “These practices and standards require us to take steps to prevent FirstRand being used for money laundering or other unlawful activities.”