The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) has granted Diamond Bank Plc, approval to operate as a
national bank following its application for it.
The
bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Uzoma Dozie, said this in a
statement signed by the bank’s Head of media, Ezechinyere Anyanwu on
Friday in Abuja.
Dozie said: ”With this approval the bank
will cease to operate as an International Bank. The re-licensing as a
national bank supports Diamond’s objective of streamlining its
operations to focus resources on the significant opportunities in the
Nigerian retail banking market, and economy as a whole.
“The
move follows Diamond’s decision to sell its international operations,
which included the disposal of its West African Subsidiary in 2017 and
Diamond Bank UK, the sale of which is currently in its final stages. The
change to national bank status also enables the bank to maintain a
lower minimum capital requirement of 10 per cent as against 15 per cent
required for international banks.
Dozie said that the
approval would enable the bank to deploy more capital for stronger
growth in the quarters ahead through additional investment in technology
platforms.
From pm news