CBN licenses three new banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued licenses to three new banks.

According to the section of CBN’s website containing the list of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and financial holding companies operating as of July 23rd, 2019, Titan Trust Bank Limited and Globus Bank Limited have been added.

The list also indicates that the regulator has issued a Non-Interest Banking license with regional authorization to TAJ Bank Limited. With the latest information, the commercial banks operating in the country are now 23, from the initial 21. Also, non-interest banks are now two.

With the latest development, the number of commercial banks with national authorization now stands at 11. Note that Banks with national authorization are banks with a capital base of N25billion and are allowed to operate in all states of the federation but barred from having offshore operations.

while the number of commercial banks with regional authorization (having a capital base of N10 billion and restricted to operate within a geographical scope of a minimum of five and a maximum of 10 contiguous states) now stands at three.

Also, with the licensing of TAJ Bank Limited as a non-interest bank with regional authorization means there are now two non-interest banks operating in the country.

Recall, that Jaiz Bank is the non-interest rate bank to be licensed by the CBN with the license to operate in all states of the federation (national authorization).

he Newly licensed Banks: According to sources, Globus bank limited obtained its regional banking license in 2019 and begun operations on May 2, 2019.

The executive director of Globus Bank Limited is Elias Igbinakenzua. Igbinakenzua has had stints as an Executive Director of Zenith Bank and Access Bank respectively.

Titan trust bank was established in 2018 but officially obtained its license in April 2019 as a national bank and started operations. The Executive director is Adaeze Udensi. The bank’s operations include SME banking, Digital banking and Commercial banking

More Banks on the way? The latest announcement made by the Central Bank suggests more banks may soon be licensed by the CBN.

Credit: Nairametrics