One of the biggest banks in South Africa, Standard Bank, has reportedly sent notice for account termination to customers that offer automated cryptocurrency arbitrage services.
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According to Mybroadband report, this action has caused a near uproar in the cryptocurrency industry. The notice sent to the arbitrage traders has brought up scepticism about the measures that Standard Bank is using when they were deciding on which accounts would be terminated.
An example is Carel de Villers, the co-founder of an arbitrage trading firm Shiftly who is quoted challenging the process that Standard Bank is using.
While stating that Shiftly is not a customer of the bank, de Villers though infer that it is strange for Standard Bank who denied his company’s endeavour to open an account would sustain a business connection with its rivals.
The claims by de Villers and an anonymous trader seem to be confirmed by Sean Sanders, the founder of a crypto investing platform, Revix.
According to the report, Sander is cited acknowledging that his firm Revix, which is not an arbitrage trader, has been treated nicely by the bank but only after going through quite a lot of tiring meetings. However, Sanders expresses his sadness over South Africa’s lack of practical regulation and how it adds to an epic high banking risk.
Upholding the notice of account termination, a spokesperson for Standard Bank argues that the bank actions are not discriminatory but are intended to guarantee that all customers agree with regulations.
“Standard Bank is committed to treating its clients fairly and constantly strives to strike the appropriate balance between maintaining client relationships and ensuring regulatory compliance,” a spokesperson states.
In addition, the spokesperson said that the bank has created risk management principles by which all existing and forthcoming clients will repeatedly be examined and assessed.
Consequently, the bank’s notice points to the position the South African Reserve Bank and Intergovernmental Fintech organisations are currently taking.
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Tony Chimdiuto