The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced 44 licensed deposit money banks in Nigeria, as at April 26, 2024
The apex bank disclosed this in a list released on its official website on Tuesday, but silent on the earlier acquisition of Union bank by Titan Trust Bank.
Titan Trust Bank Limited which was relatively new announced in 2022 its acquisition of the foremost Union bank.
The bank sought CBN’s no-objection approval in 2021 to its proposed consolidation with Union Bank by acquiring 91.5 per cent of Union Bank’s shares and an eventual merger between both banks.
By 2022, Titan Bank had acquired 93.4 per cent of Union Bank’s shares.
Some observers are asking whether the government could take over Union Bank which had been duly acquired by private investors led by the TGI Group.
Some analysts are of the view that the stand alone of the institutions might be a tacit disapproval of the acquisition and possibly may adopt the recommendation of Jim Obazee, special investigator appointed to investigate CBN that FG should take over the banks and others.
TTB was established on the 12th of December, 2018 and obtained its national banking license on the 26th of April 2019, to operate as a commercial bank with national authorisation.
Union Bank of Nigeria was established in 1917 and is one of Nigeria’s long-standing and most respected financial institutions, offering a portfolio of banking services to individuals, SMEs, commercial and corporate clients. The brand is still recognized worldwide till today.
However, according to CBN, Seven banks, including Zenith , Access, FirstBank, First City Monument , United Bank of Africa, Fidelity, and Guaranty Trust Banks, have Commercial Banking licenses with international authorization as of April 26, 2024.:Bank Recapitalisation, M & A Under Scrutiny (3)
Also, fifteen banks have commercial banking licenses with National Authorization.
They include, Citibank Nigeria Limited, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Heritage Bank Plc, Globus Bank Limited, Keystone Bank Limited, Polaris Bank Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, Titan Trust Bank Limited, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Premium Trust Bank Limited and Optimus Bank Limited.
Similarly, four banks have commercial banking licenses with regional authorization, and four non-interest banks have national authorization.
Commercial banks with regional licenses are Providus Bank Limited, Parallex Bank Limited, Suntrust Bank Nigeria Limited, and Signature Bank Limited.
Players in the non-interest banking sector with national authorisation include Jaiz Bank Plc, Taj Bank Limited, Lotus Bank Limited, and Alternative Bank Limited.
The bank said the country has six merchant banks licensed with national authorization.
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These are: Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, FBN Merchant Bank Limited, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited, Nova Merchant Bank Limited, and Rand Merchant Bank Limited.
The financial holding companies listed were Access Holdings Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, FCMB Group Plc, FSDH Holding Company Limited, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, and Sterling Financial Holdings Limited.
The Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited was listed as the sole representative office.
The list comes months after the CBN raised the minimum capital requirement for all banks in Nigeria to strengthen the country’s financial sector.
The banker’s bank pegged the minimum capital base for commercial banks with international authorisation at N500 billion from N50 billion in 2005.
Also, CBN benchmarked the minimum capital requirement for banks with National Spread (N200 billion), Regional (N50 billion), Merchant Banks( N50 billion), National Non-Interest Banks (N20 billion) and Regional Non-interest (N10 billion).
All banks are required to meet the minimum capital requirement within 24 months commencing from April 1, 2024, and terminating on March 31, 2026.