CBN OKAYS STERLING BANK'S MOVES TO RESTRUCTURE AS HOLDING COMPANY

CBN okays Sterling Bank’s move to restructure as Holding Company In its latest disclosure, Sterling bank noted that the Holding Company gives it the structure to explore its business model further. ByOladeinde Olawoyin October 1, 2020 3 min read The Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman, has announced that the bank obtained the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval in principle to enable it restructure as a Holding Company.

Mr Suleiman made this known in a disclosure sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by the bank. The bank said its desire to operate as a Holding Company was driven by its plan to spin off its non-interest banking window which became operational in January 2014 into an autonomous entity. The bank said it believes that the proposed structure incorporates efficiencies around operations and financing efforts that will support the individual businesses in reaching full potential through a number of strategies. It said in terms of increased portfolio diversification, the Holding Company structure enables the non-interest bank and other non-core businesses achieve greater results based on focused management of the distinct businesses. In terms of improved efficiency resulting from the consolidation of key functions such as compliance, risk management and other support functions, the new move will yield improved prospects for individual business growth. It will also enhance corporate governance which serves to promote a consistent culture across the group and quality of service to customers thereby facilitating sustainability of earnings. In the same vein, it will encourage better access to capital by leveraging the consolidated financial strength of the group which would have been otherwise difficult for each individual subsidiary company. “Going into the Holding Company structure, our desire is to entrench our business model premised on impact capitalism where we believe that private sector capital and market-based tools will offer the best types of solutions to Nigeria’s most pressing social and environmental challenges,” the bank said in its disclosures. Read Also