As a consequence, some regulations and practices started to deviate from international best practices. With the re-establishment of normal relations with the rest of the world in the 1990s, great efforts were made to bring the rules and regulations on the activities of financial institutions in line with international norms and standards.
From 1994 South African financial institutions started operating on an increasing scale in major international financial centers as well as opening branches or subsidiaries in other African countries. As part of this process, five large domestic companies transferred the primary listing of their stock to  4  BIS Review 30/2004  foreign bourses.