Amidst the rush for recapitalisation, four deposit money banks in the country have upgraded their banking licence from regional banking to national banking licence as the number of banks in the country rise to 44.
In the just released list of licensed financial institutions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), there are now seven international banks, 15 banks with national licences, four with regional licences, four non- interest banks, six merchant banks, seven financial holding companies and one representative office in the country.
This list, which is publicly accessible on the CBN’s official website, shows that banks with international authorisation are 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.
Banks with national authorisation licence are 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.
Regional licences are held by Providus Bank Limited, Parallex Bank Limited, Suntrust Bank Nigeria Limited, and Signature Bank Limited in the commercial banking segment, while non-interest banking sector players with national authorisation are Jaiz Bank Plc, Taj Bank Limited, Lotus Bank Limited, and Alternative Bank Limited.
Merchant banking entities include 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 list also lists financial holding companies as 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.
Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited was the sole representative office listed.