Shareholders of Sterling Bank have approved to convert from a core banking business to a holding company.

The bank’s board on Monday, September 26, 2022, announced that its shareholders agreed to transfer their investment into the HoldCo, which will become a parent company.

The announcement comes one week after the bank convened a meeting of shareholders at the order of a court as part of the last key stages of the corporate reformation.

The lender will become known as Sterling Financial Holdings Company when the transition is delivered, according to a regulatory filing seen by PREMIUM TIMES on the Nigerian Exchange Limited’s website.

Embracing a holdco structure confers on Sterling Bank the leverage to make inroads into other sectors within financial services apart from commercial banking which its current license and those of many lenders in Nigeria do not allow.

Such sectors, comprising pension; asset management; payments and fintech, are gaining appeal among banks and provide chances for diversification as competition for interest income, which accounts for the bulk of the revenue of the banking industry turns increasingly fierce.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings, one of the early birds that adopted the Holdco structure, is a testament that the Holdco structure is a model that works. Its pension unit controls around one-third of the N14.2 trillion assets under management as the market leader in the Nigerian pension industry.

With the key resolutions for the scheme of arrangement now approved, the transition will proceed to its final phase where regulators including the Central Bank of Nigeria are to sanction the new entity into existence.

“The bank will transfer all the assets, liabilities and undertakings related to the non-interest banking business to The Alternative Bank Limited,” the statement said in reference to its newest subsidiary that received an approval-in-principle in December.

Sterling Bank’s issued and paid-up share capital valued at 28.8 billion outstanding shares will passé to the holding company in exchange for the allotment of those same units to shareholders on completion.

What's your thought about this?

Although the model of iPhone is not clear, it looked like the newly released iPhone 14 Pro max launched in September. 

A bank customer has expressed concern after spotting a security operative at a new generation bank using an iPhone with three cameras.

In a video circulating on social media, the security guard is seen using the expensive smartphone to make a phone call while carrying out his duty.

He placed the gadget on his ear and the apple logo and three cameras was clearly visible to prying eyes. Though the iPhone model is not clear, it looked like the newly released iPhone 14 Pro max.

Customer troubled

The customer, who discretely filmed the security guard, took to social media to share the video and vented his concern about his funds in the bank, as he indirectly questioned how the security guard was able to afford the gadget.

“You sure say my money safe for this bank like this?” he captioned the video 

This is so funny.

What do you have say about this? 

Drop your comments below thanks.