South Africa’s largest bank by market capitalisation, FirstRand, confirmed it is to open a new branch in Guernsey through its FNB bank subsidiary.

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) issued a deposit-taking licence to FirstRand Bank Limited Guernsey branch and the new business will formally launch in 2015.

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FirstRand already has a presence in Guernsey as it provides a wide range of fiduciary services through FNB International Trustees Limited – a specialist international offshore service provider of the FirstRand Group.

Following the approval of the licence, Stuart Talbot, former head of FirstRand’s private bank RMB, has been appointed to run the Guernsey operation.

James Fowle, CEO, Premium and Business Core Banking, FNB said the new Guernsey branch ‘will only be in a position to formally announce the details of the offshore offer once formally launched.’

FirstRand’s new branch will bring the total number of licensed banks in Guernsey to 31.

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With this latest move, FNB’s international operation has grown to nine subsidiaries outside of South Africa, the lender said.

FNB currently operates in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and India.

The most recently published figures from the Guernsey Finance Centre show that the total value of deposits held by banks in Guernsey stood at £77.4 billion at the end of June 2014.

Fiona Le Poidevin, chief executive of Guernsey Finance said:

"FirstRand is a welcome addition to the Guernsey banking market. The group is among the biggest financial services firms in South Africa and the fact that it has chosen Guernsey as a location for an offshore subsidiary reinforces the global and international nature of our banking industry."