The banks are looking to end a five-year agreement, due to expire in mid-2011, a year early, the news service quoted the people as saying. The Zurich-listed bank wants to increase its presence in South Africa to also include investment banking while expanding its existing private bank.

In July 2006, Switzerland’s second-largest bank started a brokerage, called Credit Suisse Standard Securities, with Johannesburg-based Standard Bank.

Credit Suisse did not comment to WealthBriefing at the time of going to press.  

There have been a number of South Africa-themed banking and brokerage news developments in recent days, with the continent's richest economy under the spotlight amid the World Cup soccer tournament being held there.

As reported elswhere today in this publication, HSBC is in the early stages of assessing a bid for Nedbank, part of the London-listed Old Mutual investment and banking group. South African First National Bank’s parent company FirstRand said in late June it had boosted its wealth management capacity by offering to buy all of stockbroking firm Barnard Jacobs Mellet’s ordinary shares for a maximum cash consideration valued at R207 million (around $27 million).