Nigerian Banking Community May Soon Lose Another Bank As Heritage Bank Efforts In Attracting Strategic Investors Fails

Significantly, the bank is said to be indebted to FirstBank which serves as a clearing bank to the CBN and has been visiting the CBN’s special window, the Stand­ing Lending Facility (SLF).

SLF is the special lending win­dow where banks go when they have liquidity issues and recently, more banks have been relying on it for liquidity.

Borrowing from the apex bank’s Standing Lending Facil­ity increased month-on-month (MoM) by 559 percent to N376.64 billion in November from N57.14 billion in October 2023.

Details from the CBN financial data for November 2023 showed that bank deposits in the apex bank’s Standing Deposit Facility also declined MoM by 18 percent to N2.4 trillion in November from N2.94 trillion in October.

An investment banker, Isiaka Kuwaj, said those who are knowl­edgeable about banking have sug­gested to the CBN to rescue the bank from collapse but this was not adhered to.

He said, “If the CBN was talking about banks who may not be able to play in the envisioned new economy, Heritage Bank is one of them. The bank is losing its grip and it must be rescued to safeguard depositors’ funds.

“If you look critically at the bank and its operations, you will see that there is a systemic ma­nipulation of processes. The new leadership of the bank, led by Tay­lor, seems not to have the magic wand to turn the bank around.

“Since the retirement of Dr. Sekibo, the bank has gone to sleep and it may remain in its slumber state if nothing is done to sell the bank or bring in fresh investors with clear ideas of operating a bank”.

The board of directors of the bank under the leadership of Mr. Akinola George-Taylor as the substantive Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the bank which promised to imple­ment the lender’s next phase of transformation, Daily Indepen­dent learnt, is still optimistic that the bank will soon attract a stra­tegic investor in the desire to turn it around.

When contacted on Wednes­day, Ozena Utulu, Group Head, Corporate Communications of the bank, said the bank is “mak­ing progress” in their discussion with investors.

Nigerian Banks Remain Safe, Sound, CBN Assures Depositors

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dispelled rumours that Nigerian banks are distressed, insisting that the depositors’ funds are safe and sound.

The apex bank, in a statement signed by Mrs. Sidi-Ali Hakama, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, which was made available to newsmen in Abuja, encouraged the public to continue their regular activities without being alarmed by reports that have not emanated from the CBN.

“The Central Bank of Nige­ria (CBN) has noticed reports, in certain media outlets, about a recommendation for the Federal Government to take over some CBN-supervised financial insti­tutions.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerian banks remain safe and sound.

“The CBN encourages the public to continue their regular activities without being alarmed by reports that have not emanat­ed from the CBN about the health status of Nigerian banks.

“The CBN is fully equipped to carry out its statutory duty of up­holding a stable financial system in Nigeria.

“We assure the general public and depositors about the safety of their funds in Nigerian finan­cial institutions. Bank customers are therefore advised to proceed with their banking transactions as usual, as there is no cause for concern”.