One of Nigeria’s commercial banks, *Sterling* *Bank* , has announced plans to change its name
The move follows shareholders’ approval for the bank to operate a holding company that involves its pension fund, Islamic banking, others
Sterling Bank 2020 received approval from CBN to restructure its business and become a holding company Shareholders of Sterling Bank have approved to convert from a core banking business to a holding company.
On Monday, the shareholders of the bank agreed to transfer their investment into the HoldCo, which will become a parent company.
Checks on the Nigerian Exchange show over 28,790,418,124 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each in the issued and paid-up share capital of Sterling Bank held by the Scheme Shareholders were transferred to Sterling Financial Holdings Company Limited.
This will hand investors who held the transferred shares in Sterling Bank the same volume of shares in the HoldCo.
A statement from Sterling bank shows the shareholders believe their decision will pave the way to make the company a dominant force in the financial market.
Aside from banking, Sterling Bank operates a pension fund and an Islamic bank subsidiary.
*Change* *of* *name* *benefits*
The transaction on Monday, September 26, means that Sterling Bank has restructured and taken on a new name, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Limited (HoldCo).
Embracing a Holdco structure confers Sterling Bank the leverage to make inroads into other sectors within financial services apart from commercial banking.
Pension, asset management, payments, and fintech are gaining traction among banks and offer opportunities for diversification as competition for interest income, which accounts for the majority of the banking industry’s revenue, heats up.