CBN grants new banking licences

CBN Headquaters, Abuja

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank said on Tuesday it had granted new international banking licences to nine banks, national licences to six others, and regional licences to two lenders.

The regulator stopped issuing universal banking licences last year and said it would enforce new minimum capital requirements for different categories of lender in a bid to avoid a repeat of 2009's near collapse of several banks.

International banks require minimum capital of 50 billion naira ($320 million) under the new regime. National banks require minimum capital of 25 billion naira while regional banks, which can operate in only 6-12 of Nigeria's 36 states,
are required to have 10 billion naira.

Under the new regulations, lenders are required to either sell non-core businesses or form a holding company if they intend to carry out asset management and capital market activities.

Below are details on which banks have been granted which licences:

INTERNATIONAL BANKING LICENCE (INTERNATIONAL BANKS)

-- Access Bank

-- Diamond Bank

-- Fidelity Bank

-- First Bank of Nigeria (FBN)

-- First City Monument Bank (FCMB)

-- Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank)

-- Skye Bank

-- Zenith Bank

-- United Bank for Africa (UBA)

NATIONAL BANKING LICENCE (NATIONAL BANKS)

-- Citi Bank

-- Ecobank

-- Stanbic IBTC

-- Standard Chartered

-- Sterling Bank

-- Unity Bank

REGIONAL BANKING LICENCE (REGIONAL BANKS)

-- Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB)

-- Wema Bank

NOTE: First Bank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC and UBA have been granted approval to keep subsidiaries and adopt a holding company structure.

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