BL Premium reports that erstwhile Standard Bank deputy CEO Kenny Fihla will forfeit about R14.3m in long-term incentives after his resignation to join rival Absa.

It was a surprise in March when he ditched Standard Bank to take up the post of head of Absa, just months after the role of deputy CEO was reinstated for him and control of the 19-country Standard Bank SA and rest of Africa portfolio was consolidated in his office. Standard Bank’s annual report on Friday shows Fihla will forgo his long-term incentives, though he still took home a healthy pay cheque of about R50m for the 2024 financial year. Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala has described Fihla’s exit as a “blow”, but has backed the group’s talent pipeline to come through. Fihla was largely seen as a possible successor to Tshabalala after he was granted more powers at the group in sweeping executive changes in September. Reflecting on the group’s talent pool, Sharon Taylor, the chief people and culture officer, commented: Our talent management and succession practices across the group are mature and as a result we have excellent succession coverage across all key roles and a deep, diverse talent pipeline, which has enabled the appointment of internal talent into key roles. 62% of all vacancies in 2024 were filled by internal talent – a strong testament to our value of growing our people.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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