Zenith Bank Set To Become Holding Company
Zenith Bank said Friday it has received approval-in-principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to convert its present operational structure to a holding company.
Once substantive authorisation is received from the apex bank, then the bank gets a licence to veer into other businesses within financial services including pensions, insurance, asset management and fintech.
Recall, Lenders like FBN Holdings, Stanbic IBTC, FCMB Group, GTCO and Access Holdings are already leveraging those businesses to boost their revenue.
“The CBN approved Mr Jim Ovia as the chairman of Zenith Holdco Plc (in-formation) and for Mr Jim Ovia to also continue as the chairman of Zenith Bank Plc until the commencement of Zenith Holdco Plc,” the lender said in a statement sighted by Gentechnews.
It was gathered that Zenith Holdco will run in a non-operating capacity only overseeing the subsidiaries under it without getting actively involved in their everyday operations.
Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank by market value, has a representative office in China and also operates branches in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, where its shares are listed by way of Global Depository Receipts.
