Five potential investors, including local and regional firms, have made their bids to acquire Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe (StanChart), the oldest financial institution in the nation.
On April 14 of 2022, the London-headquartered <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/standard-chartered-bank-group-selling-selling-its-zimbabwean-subsidiary/">bank stated that it would withdraw</a> from Angola, Cameroon, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Jordan, and Lebanon in the Middle East.
According to reports, the company is completely leaving these markets because StanChart accounted for only 1% of its 2021 revenue.
Bill Winters, the chief executive of Standard Bank, stated in April of last year that the financial institution was streamlining its operations while also narrowing its emphasis on the most significant chances for growth.
StanChart’s departure ends a 130-year presence in Zimbabwe.
According to the Independent, five investors have since submitted their bids and the list has since been reduced to three.
Banks which made bids:
<blockquote>
i). CBZ Holdings and 
ii). FBC Holdings 
iii). FNB of South Africa 
iv). South African bank Nedbank through its shareholder, Old Mutual Zimbabwe, 
v). A consortium representing Zimbabwean entrepreneurs (names supplied) is also on the list of bidders.
</blockquote>
StanChart Zimbabwe spokesperson Lillian Hapanyengwi said the process to identify potential buyers is ongoing.
Another source, however, said the finalisation of the transaction could be delayed by the upcoming general elections but confirmed bids from the five bidders.
This is not the first time that an international financial institution has exited the Zimbabwean market. 
On June 2, 2017, Barclays announced the sale of its outpost in Zimbabwe to Malawi-listed lender First Merchant Bank, a continuation of the bank’s exit from Africa.
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5 Investors Make Bids To Acquire Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe

A former Minister of Finance and Economic Development (GNU era), Tendai Biti has told Old Mutual to pay back pensioners money which he says the financial institution had stolen.
Biti who is also the Vice President in the opposition MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa made the remarks in response to a social media post by Old Mutual on its Amazing Voices judges. Old Mutual had said:
<blockquote>_The Old Mutual Amazing Voices judges: <a data-user-name="AmmaraBrown" href="https://twitter.com/AmmaraBrown/" rel="noopener user" target="_blank">@AmmaraBrown</a>, <a data-user-name="trigmaticrocks" href="https://twitter.com/trigmaticrocks/" rel="noopener user" target="_blank">@trigmaticrocks</a>, <a data-user-name="evellemusic" href="https://twitter.com/evellemusic/" rel="noopener user" target="_blank">@evellemusic</a>, <a data-user-name="filah_tuju" href="https://twitter.com/filah_tuju/" rel="noopener user" target="_blank">@filah_tuju</a> and <a data-user-name="VusiNova" href="https://twitter.com/VusiNova/" rel="noopener user" target="_blank">@VusiNova</a> come with personalities larger than life. Yet we love the energy they bring to the room. Reply below &amp; tell us who your favourite judge is. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23AmazingVoicesAfrica" rel="hashtag noopener" target="_blank">#AmazingVoicesAfrica_</a></blockquote>
Biti would not have any of it and demanded that Old Mutual pays back the pensioners’ stolen money. He said:
<blockquote>_Please stop your nauseating PR exercises and bring back the billions of dollars you stole from pensioners and savers across Zimbabwe. You are causing deaths of innocent Zimbabweans through poverty, Stress and High Blood Pressure.<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23PayBackTheMoney" rel="hashtag noopener" target="_blank">#PayBackTheMoney_</a></blockquote>
Old Mutual offers three types of Pension Funds as follows: Defined Contribution Scheme, Defined Benefit Scheme, and Hybrid Scheme (which combines the features of the above two schemes).
Following the adoption of a <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/civil-servants-pensioners-to-get-usd-allowances-very-soon-mthuli-ncube/">multi-currency system in 2009,</a> Old Mutual is one of the insurance firms that clashed with pensioners and policyholders who were unhappy with the paltry benefits being disbursed to them.
Biti in 2013 also asked Treasury to make a follow up with the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) – the insurance regulatory body – concerning the paltry pension pay-outs.
He said a lot of people lost their contributions and ultimately their savings to the pensions and insurance companies adding that the IPEC had to respond to the allegations levelled against it.
Biti said he was one of the affected contributors. He took out a policy in 1994 with an assured sum of Z$50 million (about US$20,000 the exchange rate of the time), but to date, he has never received a cent.
In 2020, Biti claimed Old Mutual is the biggest beneficiary of the economy’s mismanagement adding it has made billions from Zimbabwe’s collapse. He added:
<blockquote>_It must be sued to the bone. Under a decent Government it must be made to pay compensation of the billions it has looted from unsuspecting pensioners._</blockquote>
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Biti Tells Old Mutual To Pay Back Pensioners' Stolen Money

The Financial Securities Exchange (Private) Limited (FINSEC) has announced that Old Mutual Zimbabwe shares can now be bought and sold by non-indigenous investors after all restrictions were removed. In a statement, FINSEC said
<blockquote>Financial Securities Exchange (Private) Limited (FINSEC) would like to advise all capital market participants, the investing public and other stakeholders that Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited (OMZIL) B Class Shares can now be bought and sold by non-indigenous investors.
This follows a decision made by Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited to remove the restriction on the trading of OMZIL B Class Shares listed on the Financial Securities Exchange. The Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited decision was in response to amendments to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act (Chapter 14:33).
Old Mutual Zimbabwe B Class Shares will, therefore, migrate from the Empowerment Segment of the FINSEC Equities Trading Board to the FINSEC Main Equities Trading Board with immediate effect. Investors are advised to contact their brokers or financial advisors if they need further advice on the matter.</blockquote>

Old Mutual Shares Now Trade-able By Non-Indigenous Investors On Finsec

An Old Mutual Group official who spoke to The Chronicle on condition of anonymity said the group has scrapped the requirement for payslips on potential residential stand buyers at its Pumula South and Nkulumane housing project in Bulawayo.
Said the Old Mutual official:
<blockquote>There is no need for a pay slip as long as the buyer has all the requirements needed. These requirements include a national identity card, 30 percent deposit and one needs to be registered with the City Council and be on the housing list.</blockquote>
Old Mutual Group has engaged private contractors to service the stands, pegged at various sizes and cost $20 to $30 per square metre. Beneficiaries under the scheme are to pay the balance over 12 months for the stands which are being serviced under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the Bulawayo City Council.
More: <a href="http://www.chronicle.co.zw/relief-for-homeseekers-old-mutual-scraps-payslip-requirement-for-stand-buyers/">Chronicle</a>

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