To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452.

Head of Goldman Sachs Colin Coleman tells Bloomberg TV the stand-off between Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Hawks can devastate the country.

Fin24 took to the streets of Cape Town and Johannesburg asking people to share their views on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's Budget Speech.

With SA bonds now rated as junk or non-investment grade, life for ordinary South Africans just got worse.

Fin24's Matthew le Cordeur spoke with Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba after his maiden mini budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday. Watch.

Fin24 reporter Moeshfieka Botha gives a rundown of the key elements in the finance minister's maiden mini budget, which he earlier presented to Parliament.

This week’s episode of #EntrepreneurCorner features Antoinette Prophy, who talks about starting her own business at the age of 26, and the benefits of surrounding yourself with smart employees.

While there's a chance for SA to be downgraded to non-investment grade in November, rating firms may wait for the outcome of the ANC elective conference, says economist Kim Silberman.

Ahead of the Black Friday sale, Fin24 presenter Moeshfieka Botha talks to Vincent Hoogduijn, the CEO of e-commerce at Media 24, about discounts, spending your money wisely and Black Friday FOMO.

Fin24 presenter Moeshfieka Botha talks to Grant Brown, MD of online fashion retailer Zando, about the benefits of online shopping and why you should draw up a #BlackFriday wish list.

Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping events of the year, can be likened to "pushing kids into a candy store wondering what’s going to happen" says a debt expert.

Fin24 presenter Moeshfieka Botha talks to Abdulazeez Davids of Kagiso Asset Management about how ratings downgrades affect ordinary South Africans.

Raenette Taljaard, the Executive Director of Economic Research Southern, talks to Fin24 about the implications of S&P Global's downgrade of SA debt.

With Ramaphosa sworn in as president, the SA public will be watching closely to see if, and when, he reshuffles Jacob Zuma's last Cabinet.

The start of a good financial plan is not to react to tax hike announcements, but to match our income and our expenditure, says Errol Meyer, Head Advisory Propositions at Standard Bank.

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has raised important issues about state-owned enerprises - the governance of which ratings agencies are watching closely, says George Sebulela, chair of the Black Business Council.

Budget 2018 initiatives to stimulate industrialisation in various sectors of the economy is a welcome issue, says Zweli Mkhize, former ANC treasurer general.

Economic growth prospects are better and Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has made the right choices about where to spend the money, says ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe.

Watch our live studio analysis as Fin24's Moeshfieka Botha unpacks the 2018 Budget Speech with a number of prominent political commentators and analysts.

A 25-year-old woman has revealed how she has cut her food waste and managed to travel.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is delivering his mini budget, just days after being appointed to the post. What his speech live.

By Bishop Arthur Serratelli

Beneath the soil of every continent lie buried the ruins of fallen civilizations. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Mayans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Minoans, Romans: all of them, faded memories of past grandeur and glory. History records the collapse of at least thirty-two major civilizations that once thrived and prospered before our time. 

No great civilization is built in a day. No great civilization disappears in a single instant. Historians try to explain how these civilizations once so great have slowly vanished into the dustbin of history. Weather, economics, population decline, wars, politics are some of the reasons that they offer. But, ultimately, a civilization disappears when it loses its identity, forfeits its unity and jettisons its commitment to the common good.

Today’s relentless front-page news reports of scandal and sin (many times, stale news served up as current), the incessant discord of our politicians, the unending string of acrimonious tweets, and the rage of angry voices make one wonder whether or not we are facing the decline of our own civilization. Has our unity as a nation become so fragmented that it cannot be repaired?

The TV sitcoms, the talk shows, the din of warring cable news channels do little to promote serious discourse. Rather, they seem at times to make us despair of receiving unbiased reporting. They hardly inspire us to respond to the gospel’s clarion call for truth, justice, compassion and charity. Have we lost our commitment to the common good? Are we in the midst of an unstoppable decline of our nation? 

Some say this is the age of tolerance. As a result, good and evil, right and wrong, vice and virtue, truth and error are accepted as equally valid. But, this is not the age of tolerance. Those who are pro-life are marginalized. Those who cherish and protect the life of the child waiting-to-be-born, the elderly and the terminally ill are branded as bigots, unwilling to show compassion to those suffering. Those who accept the sanctity of marriage and human sexuality as designed by the Creator are vilified. We live at a time when some are not only intolerant to our basic Christian values, but are actively engaged to silence Christians, target the Church and reduce her to ruins. 

In an age of relativism, has it become almost impossible to dialogue rationally on the major issues that face us, such as poverty, migration, and the sanctity of life itself ? “Relativism is the order of the day. Good and evil, right and wrong, innocence and guilt – all these binaries are deliberately confused as antipodal extremes are brought into artificial congruence. Moral clarity is muddled and logical cogency diluted. All inherent preference is suspended out of a misguided attempt to achieve balance where there is none” (Brandon Marlon, “The Decline and Fall of Modern Civilization: 8 Simple Steps to Squandering It All,” The Algemeiner, January 22, 2015).

From the Church, we receive a rich heritage of truth, morality and charity. We have solid and clear moral principles given to us by Jesus. These are the solid building blocks with which to construct a just and peaceful society. Could it be that we ourselves are slowly abandoning these principles? How is it possible that those trained in the Catholic faith assume leadership roles in government and then jettison their Catholic morals? How is it that any one of us can remain complacent to the slow moral deterioration of our country? 

Our country will not collapse if we refuse to hand over our future to those who deny the existence of God and live as if this world is all that there is. Our society will not collapse if we are courageous enough to draw on our moral and spiritual heritage to solve the issues that divide us. Our nation will not collapse if we remain true to our identity given to us by our Founding Fathers as a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Our courage as moral individuals to stand for justice, truth and compassion is the antidote to the collapse of our country.
 

By Bishop Arthur Serratelli

A few years ago, Paul Croituru and his young son went out treasure hunting near their native village in Romania. To their surprise, they discovered ancient Greek currency dating back 2,350 years to the time of King Philip II. The 300 silver coins turned out to be counterfeit. The father and son now hold the distinction of having discovered the oldest counterfeit money known thus far.

Counterfeit money has been around as long as money has been around. In fact, some have named the production of counterfeit money “the world's second oldest profession.” During war time, nations often resort to counterfeit money to inflict harm on their enemies. During the Revolutionary War, Great Britain attempted to devalue the continental dollar by flooding the market with shovers (fake dollars). During World War II, the Nazis made prisoners in their camps forge British pounds and American dollars to destabilize their enemies’ economies and destroy them.

Satan constantly attempts to entice individuals into counterfeit religion where the forged currency is believing in God while denying sin. The devil would have everyone forget that sin is a reality. In this way, he can render ineffective in us the work of Christ who came to take away our sins. Failure. Weakness. Mistakes. Psychological pressures. Social customs. All these labels the devil uses to disguise sin. But, sin itself remains a fact.

Science always prides itself on beginning every research project with a fact. True religion, likewise, begins with the fact of sin in the world, original sin and personal sin. “The ancient masters of religion…began with the fact of sin. Whether or not man could be washed in miraculous waters, there was no doubt at any rate that he wanted washing. But certain religious leaders…have begun…to deny the indisputable dirt. Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved” (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy). And so can the personal sins of hatred, envy, lust, pride, gluttony and greed likewise be proven.

Even a casual glance at Sacred Scriptures shows that sin taints even God’s greatest heroes and heroines. Adam and Eve lead the procession of sinners. Drunken Noah, untruthful Abraham, adulterous David and Bathsheba, disloyal Peter, and murderous Paul follow. Sin really is not that original. It is the monotonous repetition of the tragedy of Eden: choosing self over God. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8).

In the Sacrament of Penance, the Church offers us the gift of a personal encounter with our merciful Lord who forgives our sins. However, many people, and sometimes even faithful Catholics, say that they do not need to go to a priest for confession to have their sins forgiven. Why confess to a priest who is a sinner himself? God will forgive sins without the ministry of priests. Certainly, God can forgive sins when we turn to him and repent. But, he has chosen to offer us his forgiveness through the ministry of the Church. And, for a reason.

Sin is not just between the individual and God. Every sin that we commit offends God and affects others. Every sin harms Christ’s Body, the Church. The act of confession before a priest recognizes the true nature of sin as an offense against God and others. And so, it is through the Church’s priests that God chooses not simply to forgive our sins but to reconcile us to the Church. (cf. Pope Francis, General Audience, November 20, 2013).

So important is confession that some of the holiest priests of the Church have spent hours in the confessional as missionaries of God’s mercy. St. Philip Neri, a busy parish priest in Rome, spent every morning hearing confessions before continuing his work with youth in the afternoon. So famous was St. Jean Vianney in hearing confessions that a new train station had to be built in his town of Ars so that people from all of France could go there to confess to this holy priest. Most recently, St. Padre Pio heard confessions for not less than 18 hours a day. There were always long lines awaiting him.  

During his public ministry, Jesus forgave sins (cf. Mk 2:5; Lk 7:48; Jn 8:1-11). And, then after the Resurrection, he entrusted this ministry of forgiveness to his priests. On Easter Sunday night, “Jesus said to them ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (Jn 20:21-23). In confession, the priest, weak and sinful himself, acts in the name of Jesus and with his authority.  

In going to confession, we approach the priest, one by one, not as group, not as family. We humbly place before him all our own sins. To receive absolution and be forgiven, it is necessary not simply to confess all mortal sins, but also to have a firm purpose of amendment of sinning no more. As difficult as this might be at times, how great the grace! For, when the priest absolves us, we have, as Jesus promised, the certainty that our sins are forgiven. 

Young people in Bangladesh learn to combine sport with their love for God, and one programme participant explains his enthusiasm for the experience.

In a case from Montana, conservative justices suggested they were inclined to rule for parents who seek to reinstate a state tax credit funding scholarships for use at religious schools.

There will be two all-European quarter-finals at the FIFA Futsal World Cup with Spain meeting Russia, and Portugal up against Italy following the conclusion of the round of 16 in Thailand.

Fortino struck twice after Sergio Romano had opened the scoring to seal a 3-0 victory for Italy in their third-place play-off against Colombia, who lost goalkeeper Juan Lozano to a red card.

Colombia has been selected to stage the eighth FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2016 with Bogota, Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Cucuta, Ibaque and Neiva proposed as the host cities.

Portugal, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Spain are representing Europe in the FIFA Futsal World Cup: we look at the challengers in Colombia.

Jose, an Argentinian worker serving in Southeast Asia, tells of how he entered overseas service and what he has seen God do through his not-so-typical ministry.

During special Easter outreaches to women in red light areas, outreach workers go in the knowledge that Jesus is with them and His resurrection power gives hope, strength and life.

Ultimately, the payment of municipal utilities and taxes is the responsibility of the property owner, explains an attorney.

Somerset West stands out as one of the fastest growing property areas – commercial, residential and industrial - in the Western Cape, according to a new report on the state of the property sector in the Western Cape.

All three property sectors – residential, commercial and industrial – are currently experiencing a so-called buyers’ market in the Western Cape, says David Maynier, Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities.

Are deposits necessary? When can they be retained? And how much can be asked for? Attorney Simon Dippenaar explains.

The portfolio comprises three properties in the capital Bucharest, and one in Timisoara, a city in the west of the country.

These places give new meaning to the term "golden years". And no fewer than four of the five top retirement villages listed in the 2019 Estate Ratings report by New World Wealth are in the Western Cape.

The Cape Town metro scooped the highest prices paid for residential property in South Africa this year, says the MD of Seeff Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl.

Super-rich visitors to Cape Town over the holiday season have once again been willing to dig deep into their pockets for luxury rental accommodation.

Single women dominated property sales in 2017, 2018 and 2019, compared to single men and even married couples, according to data analytics firm Lightstone.

Consumers must be careful simply to assume their fortune lies in investment property, cautions Steven van Rooyen, Principal at Leapfrog Milnerton.

Blok has recently launched its latest development, FOUR ON O.