With both a health crisis and a mobility crisis, caused by the restrictions of a National State of Disaster, the financial sector adapted their contingency plans for a financial crisis, to place the customer at the centre while rapidly shifting to a work from home environment for everyone, never anticipated by a highly regulated and conservative sector. This research covers the impact of Covid-19 on the financial sector in South Africa.

Gordon Gecko said “greed is good” in the movie Wall Street. I say change is good. It has influenced my professional journey and has had an enriching effect on my career. Now, as a coach and capacity builder,in the words of an African proverb, I am “lighting other candles”.

Since our March 2021 Survey, we experienced rioting and looting in KwaZulu Natal and other provinces during July. The subsequent month-on-month data does not show a noticeable change in bank lending as a result thereof.

Is it a question of shortness of memory on the part of financial institutions, or is it just a matter of the prospect of huge returns making risky investment decisions worthwhile? Whatever the motivation, the Archegos implosion has prompted regulators in the US, UK, Switzerland and Japan to investigate the risk controls of eight major banks including Credit Suisse, Nomura, Morgan Stanley, UBS, MUFG and Mizuho, who collectively suffered losses in excess of US$10 billion.