Strategies for market monopolization: The register of co-operation and the ‘imperial banks’ in South Africa in the 1920s-1980s

The introduction of British colonial banking had a profound impact on the development of a competitive financial system in South Africa. The nature of the banking system that had emerged in the settler economy of the various British colonies in South Africa facilitated the international expansion of the ‘imperial banks, ' as was characterized by Stuart Jones 1 writing on the colonial banking system active there, but had a dual impact on the development of the local financial system. On the one had it secured stability in an unstable settler banking system but on the other hand it entrenched a monopolistic situation, which in the long run compromised competition in the South African banking system. This chapter explores the role of the banking cartel in shaping the financial system of South Africa. British colonies extended over almost two-thirds of European colonial presence in Africa, with the strongest presence in what later became ‘South Africa.' Financial systems in British colonies reflected British dominance, well into the twentieth century. The British imperial banks had a direct impact both on the supply of funds and the demand for funds.