BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
THE Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission have granted the request of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to restructure into a financial holding company.
The bank said in a release that it had initiated a formal process following CBN’s approval.
“The Bank has also obtained the ‘No-objection’ of the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the proposed Scheme,” GTBank said.
Consequently, the bank said it would be delisted from the Official List of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, and re-registered as a private limited liability company under the relevant provisions of Nigeria’s corporate legislation.
It noted that the financial holding company would be regulated by the CBN as another Financial Institution and listed on the Official List of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as the London Stock Exchange.
The tier-one bank’s decision to restructure was in response to a comprehensive strategic evaluation of the operating and competitive environment of the Nigerian banking sector in the near term.
The bank expects that the new structure will have greater strategic flexibility to adapt to future business opportunities.
It also said the latest move would enable it adjust to a challenging market and regulatory changes.
Based on the restructuring, issued shares in the bank will be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for the shares in a financial holding company.
The N950.63bn capitalised firm said it would implement the restructuring by means of a scheme of arrangement between the bank and its shareholders.
