SHARES in Standard Bank Investment Corp (Stanbic) rose on Wednesday after the lender said it has recovered most of its exposure to defaulting Russian banks. The bank is one of South Africa’s big four lenders and is currently being courted by its smaller rival Nedcor Ltd. Stanbic said late on Tuesday it has recovered 90%, or $69,5-million, of its exposure to defaulting Russian banks. It took the provision in its 1998 accounts after Russia’s financial crisis last year. The bank is still considering whether to add the money to its bottom line, or use it to strengthen bad debt provisions.