AS the Nigerian banking sector gears up for recapitalisation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released the list of licensed Deposit Money Banks (DMB) operating in the country.
The list was made public on the CBN’s official website on Tuesday, May 8, to provide insights into the country’s banking landscape.
According to the CBN, banks with international authorisation include Access Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Limited, First Bank Nigeria Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, United Bank of Africa Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
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Commercial banks with national authorisation 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.
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.
In the merchant banking category, the apex banks listed 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 ICIR reports that the list may not be unconnected with CBN’s regulatory role in ensuring that depositors know the licensed banks to operate with, especially now that recapitalisation process for deposit money banks has begun.
On Thursday, March 28, 2024, the apex bank unveiled new minimum capital requirements for banks and pegged the minimum capital base for commercial banks with international authorisation at N500 billion.
The Bank also said the new minimum capital base for commercial banks with national authorisation would be N200 billion, while the new requirement for those with regional authorisation would be N50 billion.
The last time the CBN increased banks’ capital bases was in 2005, when the current Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, was the CBN governor. At the time, the capital base was raised from ₦ 2 billion to ₦ 25 billion.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.