Absa | Absa Board of Directors

Absa Bank Limited (Absa) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Absa Group. We offer a range of retail, business, corporate and investment banking, as well as wealth management, products and services primarily in South Africa and Africa.

The Absa Bank Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI), which is in accordance with the Companies Act 2008, regulates the rights, duties and responsibilities of shareholders, directors and others within the Bank.

Absa Bank MOI and Registration Certificates

Good corporate governance creates and sustains shareholder value, ensures that our behaviour is ethical and promotes positive outcomes for all our stakeholders. This is why we are committed to the highest standards of corporate governance. Our board is the focal point and custodian of Absa Group’s governance principles as set out in our Board Charter and contained in various policies and standards.

Independent directors

Wendy Lucas-Bull (Chairman)

Wendy Lucas-Bull (67)

Independent Non-Executive Chairman

Wendy joined the board as an independent non-executive director and chairman in 2013. She is also chairman of Absa Bank and Absa Financial Services. Wendy is the chairman of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC) , and she is also a member of the Board Finance Committee (BFC), Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Remuneration Committee (RemCo), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), Social and Ethics (SEC) and Information Technology Committee (ITC). She is a permanent an invitee of the Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC).

Wendy is one of the founders of the Peotona Group. She was previously chief executive of FirstRand Limited’s retail businesses and prior to that an executive director of Rand Merchant Bank Holdings. Former non-executive directorships include those at Barclays PLC, Anglo American Platinum Limited, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Alexander Forbes, Eskom, Nedbank, Telkom, Aveng (deputy chairman), Lafarge Industries (chairman), the South African Financial Markets Advisory Board, Discovery Holdings, Dimension Data PLC and the Momentum Group. She was also a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Black Economic Empowerment. She is Deputy Chairman of the Incorporation Board of the Gender-Based Violence Fundraising (GBVF) Response Fund.

Wendy was appointed as independent chairman of Shoprite Holdings Limited on 16 November 2020.

Qualifications: BSc
Francis Okomo-Okello

Francis Okomo-Okello (71)

Independent Non-Executive Director

Francis joined the Absa Group Limited board as an independent director in 2014, and was appointed as the chairman of the Social and Ethics Committee (SEC) with effect from 4 June 2020 and is a member of the Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC). Francis also joined as independent non-executive director of Absa Bank Limited from 4 June 2020.

Francis is an Albert Parvin fellow of Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, and a fellow of The Kenya Institute of Bankers. He is also an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He serves as chairman of TPS Eastern Africa Limited (Serena Group of Hotels and Lodges), and as a non-executive director of the Nation Media Group. Currently, Francis is the executive director in charge of legal and corporate affairs at Industrial Promotion Services Group of Companies, an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.

He also serves as a member of the advisory board of the Strathmore Business School (Strathmore University, Nairobi) and a member of the advisory committee of the Aga Khan University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences – East Africa.

Qualifications: LLB (Hons).
Mark Merson

Mark Merson (52)

Independent Non-Executive Director

Mark joined the board in January 2014 as a non-executive director and became an independent non-executive director with effect from October 2017. Mark is the chairman of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC) and is a member of the Board Finance Committee (BFC) and Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC). Mark was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Absa Bank Limited on 15 May 2019.

Mark is a graduate of Oxford University, a chartered accountant and was previously a partner in the financial services consulting practice of Arthur Andersen and Deloitte. From 2003 through 2016, he served Barclays PLC in a variety of roles including group financial controller, head of investor relations, chief financial officer for the Corporate and Investment Bank and latterly deputy group finance director. Mark is also a director of Veritum Partners Limited, which offers advice on market interaction to European banks and is a non-executive director of Petershill Partners plc.

Mark is also Chairman of Absa Securities UK Limited.

Qualifications: ACA; MA (Hons).
Sipho Pityana

Sipho M Pityana (61)

Lead Independent Director

Sipho joined the board as an independent non-executive director with effect from 1 May 2019. He was appointed as the lead independent director of both the Group and Absa Bank boards with effect from 4 June 2020.

He is a member of the Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC) and is the chairman of the Group Remuneration Committee (RemCo). He is a former executive director of Nedcor Investment Bank Holdings from 2002 to 2004, responsible for strategic business development.

Sipho is the founder and chairman of Izingwe Capital, a black-owned investment company founded in 2004, which invests in a number of South Africa’s blue chip corporates. Sipho was the chairman of AngloGold Ashanti for 6 years from 2014 until December 2020, having served on that board since his appointment in 2007. He is also the chairman of JSE listed company Redefine Properties Limited.

He is the former president of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), and the co-chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) new Africa Regional Stewardship Board (RSB).

Qualifications: BA (Hons), MSc
Tasneem Abdool-Samad

Tasneem Abdool-Samad (46)

Independent Non-Executive Director

Tasneem has been on the Absa Bank Board as an independent non-executive director since 2016, and joined the Board (Absa Group) as an independent non-executive director on 1 February 2018. She joined the Group Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC) on 1 April 2018 and assumed the position of GACC chairman from 4 June 2020. She rejoined the board of Absa Bank Limited as independent non-executive director with effect from 4 June 2020.

Tasneem is also a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Board Finance Committee (BFC) and Directors’ Affairs Committee (DAC).

Tasneem started her career at Deloitte in KwaZulu-Natal. She then moved to the University of the Witwatersrand, where she was a lecturer in auditing from 2003 to 2006. In 2006 she rejoined Deloitte and is a former member of the Deloitte South Africa board.

Tasneem is an independent non-executive chairman of Absa Financial Services Limited, and is a non-executive director of Reunert Limited, Long4Life Limited and Bid Corporation Limited.

Qualifications: BCom; CA (SA)

Executive directors

Jason Quinn

Jason Quinn (46)

Interim Group Chief Executive

Jason was appointed as interim Group Chief Executive Officer with effect from 20 April 2021. Jason joined the board and executive committee in September 2016. He is the chairman of the Models Committee (MC) and a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), Social and Ethics Committee (SEC) and Information Technology Committee (ITC). He is an executive director of the Absa Bank Limited Board.

Before joining Absa Group, he was a partner at Ernst & Young Inc. Jason joined the Group in 2008 as the financial controller and was appointed as the head of finance in 2014 after holding several senior finance positions. Jason was appointed as Group Financial Director in September 2016.

Jason is a director of Absa Financial Services Limited, Woolworths Financial Services (Pty) Limited and is an employer-appointed trustee of the Absa Pension Fund.

Qualifications: BAcc (Hons); CA(SA).
Punki Modise

Punki Modise (51)

Interim Group Financial Director

Punki was appointed as interim Financial Director with effect from 23 April 2021, and is an executive director on the boards of Absa Group and Absa Bank. She is a member of the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), Group Credit Risk Committee (GCRC), Information Technology Committee (ITC) and Models Committee (MC).

Punki joined Absa Group in 2008 and has held various senior management positions, including that of Chief Financial Officer: Retail and Business Banking since June 2016. Previous roles include Head: Transactional Banking, Chief of Staff: Retail Banking and Chief Financial Officer: Distribution Channels. Prior to joining Absa Group, she held positions at Standard Bank and Fedsure, having completed her articles at PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.

Punki is a non-executive director of Absa Life Limited, Woolworths Financial Services (Pty) Limited and Ford Financial Services (Pty) Ltd.

Qualifications: B.Com; CA(SA); Masters in Financial Management