William Blackie
Chief Executive Officer, Business and Commercial Banking, Standard Bank Group
In his role, Bill strives to leverage Standard Bank’s expanding ecosystem of capabilities to support African small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) with the physical, digital and knowledge capability to identify opportunity and unlock sustainable growth across the continent. Over 23 years, Bill has served in various positions at Standard Bank, starting out as Corporate Finance Specialist in 1999, before taking on the role of Head of Corporate Finance (South Africa) in 2006. He became Head of Investment Banking (South Africa) in 2009, until he was appointed Deputy Group Head of Investment Banking in 2012 and Group Head of Investment Banking in 2015. Before joining Standard Bank, Bill served as a Candidate Attorney with Coghlan, Welsh and Guest, and as an Attorney with Francis Thompson & Aspden. He holds a B Com (Rhodes), LLB (Rhodes) and an MBA (University of Cape Town) and attended the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD in Singapore in 2013. In 2021, he completed the Digital Savvy Board Programme through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sloan School of Management, followed by a Masterclass Certificate in Sustainable Finance and Climate Change from the SOAS University of London.
