“British” Dropped from Bank’s Name
Reports of gold discoveries in the eastern Transvaal, which formed part of the independent Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek or Transvaal Republic, started to attract attention in the 1870s. Standard Bank’s desire to extend its field of activities there was thwarted by its own memorandum of association, which limited its sphere of operations to areas under British jurisdiction. Immediately after the Transvaal was annexed by Britain in April 1877, the bank opened branches in Potchefstroom, Pretoria, Lydenburg and Heidelberg. The return of independence to the Transvaal in 1881 left the bank with two options: to withdraw from the Transvaal or to alter its memorandum of association. The only rival bank in the Transvaal, the Cape Commercial Bank, was tottering and although Standard Bank’s Transvaal business was small and unprofitable, it believed the territory had potential. The Pretoria branch was therefore kept open and steps were taken to legalise the bank’s continued presence in the Transvaal. On 19 July 1881 the Royal Assent was given to altering the bank’s memorandum to enable it to operate in areas outside British jurisdiction. As the bank was no longer exclusively a “British” bank, the word British was dropped from its title at a shareholders’ meeting on 16 February 1883. The bank was henceforth known as The Standard Bank of South Africa, Limited. The western Cape’s superior communication facilities with the interior and overseas and the valuable government account induced Standard Bank to move its colonial head office from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town on 31 December 1885. The new majestic Standard Bank building in Adderley Street served as an ideal home for the bank’s headquarters for the next 68 years.
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