First National Bank and FNB Lesotho Limited

In 1998 the financial services interests (which included their shareholding in First National Bank) of Rand Merchant Bank Holdings and Anglo-American Corporation Anglo-American Corporation were merged to form FirstRand Limited, which is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange. Consequently, FNB became a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstRand Limited and currently trades as a division of the group.

The First National Bank of Lesotho Limited ("FNB Lesotho Limited") was established in 2004 as a green fields operation.

FirstRand Bank Limited ("FRB") recognised the need to create a strong sub-Saharan Africa presence to take advantage of trade and investment within the Common Monetary Area ("CMA") and the Southern African Development Community ("SADC"), of which the Republic of South Africa plays a key role. The addition of a Lesotho presence was an extension of success stories in Namibia, Botswana, and Swaziland.