CBN Grants Providus Bank Commercial Banking Licence

.Naira falls to N370/$1

Obinna Chima

Providus Bank Plc has been granted a commercial banking licence with regional authorisation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The central bank disclosed this in a circular posted on its website on Tuesday.
Although the circular did not give further details about the promoters of the new bank, it disclosed that the financial institution has its head office in Lagos.

Also listed was Suntrust Bank Limited, which obtained its licence as a regional bank last year.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Muhammad Jibrin Barde, had explained that the financial institution achieved the feat having met the stringent conditions set by the CBN. He stated that SunTrust Bank will be formally presented to the public in the first quarter of 2016.

“I am excited to announce that the CBN granted its final approval to SunTrust Bank Nigeria Limited to operate as a commercial bank with regional authorisation on September 17, 2015, one year two months after application.This is indeed a remarkable feat as ours is the only fresh licence to be issued by the CBN since 2001.

“Our journey as a bank since 2009 details the courageous decisions and heroic self-sacrifice of all the people that made SunTrust assent possible. In the years to come, the developments at SunTrust should have far-reaching influence in the banking sector specifically and our nation generally,” Barde added.

The list of banks and financial holding companies also showed that the country has 10 commercial banks with international licence. They are Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank, FirstBankof Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Skye Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.

On the other hand, the banks with national banking licence are Citibank Nigeria, Ecobank Nigeria, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank and Wema Bank.

But Jaiz Bank is the only non-interest bank, while Coronation Merchant Bank, FSDH Merchant Bank, Rand Merchant Bank and FBN Merchant Limited are the four merchant banks in the country. Presently, FCMB Group Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, according to the circular.

Meanwhile, the naira fell to N370 to a dollar yesterdaydown from the N365 to a dollar it was on Monday. This is just as currency traders eagerly await the release of the guidelines for the flexible exchange by the central bank. The new forex policy will be unveiled today (Wednesday).