Posted by This Day Online on
Barely two weeks after major changes in their merger plans, First Inland Bank Group and Platinum Bank/FSB Group appeared poised to receive the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Approval-in-Principal.
Barely two weeks after major changes in their merger plans, First Inland Bank Group and Platinum Bank/FSB Group appeared poised to receive the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Approval-in-Principal.
The CBN has set August 31, 2005 deadline for banks, following its consolidation plan to conclude their due diligence to enable it hand them Approval-in-Principal. This is seen as a critical milestone towards complying with the December 2005 deadline for banks to meet the N25 billion minimum capital set in July 2004 for banks operating in the country.
Membership of the two groups were greatly alter about two weeks ago when Guardian Express Bank Plc left Astrabank Group to team up with the Platinum Bank/FSB Group, while First Atlantic Bank Plc jettisoned Astrabank to team up with Inland Bank, which incidentally was hitherto in the Platinum/FSB Group. They both formed First Inland Bank Group.
THISDAY gathered that although the changes had left many analysts suggesting that the banks would miss the CBN deadline, the banks were said to be confident of achieving the August target, as they believe that a lot of the work they had done under their previous groups remain relevant under their new plans.
Our sources indicated that because the banks in question had been preparing for due diligence under their old groups, they were able to commence due diligence immediately and are scheduled to complete this process this week to enable them file for the Approval-in-Principal from CBN.
It was also gathered that before announcing the new groups the banks had crossed the critical stage of agreeing corporate governance structure, the knotty issue that was fingered in the collapse of several of the previous groups.
The banks are also positive about achieving this milestone, buoyed by the fact that the UBA/STB merger process was achieved in record time, an indication that banks committed to their merger arrangements would conclude their mergers and meet the 25 billion target before the December deadline.