LAGOS — Nigeria’s state asset management firm AMCON has taken over three lenders that were failing despite a $4 billion 2009 bailout, in a move the central bank says will allow all nine banks rescued to be recapitalised by September 30, drawing a line under the country’s banking crisis.
The central bank revoked the licences of Springbank, Afribank and Bank PHB and their assets and liabilities were transferred to newly formed “bridge banks” by the government unit Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corp (NDIC) on Friday.
AMCON will recapitalise the nationalised banks, before finding new investors, which may take at least two or three years, the central bank said. All deposits with the AMCON-run banks have been guaranteed by the central bank.
“The primary objective is to stabilise the banking system. AMCON will now supervise the management of these banks,” AMCON head Mustapha Chike-Obi told reporters at a conference in the commercial hub Lagos.
The state “bad bank” will inject 285 billion naira into Mainstreet Bank, formerly Afribank, 283 billion naira into Keystone Bank, formerly Bank PHB, and 111 billion into Enterprise Bank, formerly Spring Bank. All the injections will take place by today through the issue of bonds.
The central bank’s deputy governor, Kingsley Moghalu, said recapitalisation agreements signed with investors by four of the other rescued banks would solve around 80% of the banking crisis and the bailout package would be recouped from all rescued banks.
“We believe we have drawn a line under the banking crisis. By September 30, all banks in Nigeria will be fully capitalised,” Moghalu said.
The central bank had said the rescued banks had until the end of September to reach recapitalisation deals with new investors or face liquidation, or nationalisation through an AMCON takeover, but the central bank and NDIC took pre-emptive action. The market had started trading at a discount to the lenders that AMCON has now taken over and regulators had to take early action to avoid a run waiting until September would have amounted to a disaster,” one banking source said.
