The management of the bank on Monday 3rd of December 2018, notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange (‘NSE’) and the General Public of the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”) to its application to operate as a National Bank (subject to conclusion of sale of Diamond Bank UK “DBUK”). With this approval the bank will cease to operate as an International Bank.
As a prelude to this, in 2017 the bank disposed its West African Subsidiary, and is currently in the final stages of sale of its United Kingdom subsidiary.
The re-licensing as a National Bank supports the Bank’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 change to National Bank status also enables the bank to maintain a lower minimum capital requirement, and this creates headroom for stronger growth in the quarters ahead through customer acquisition and expansion of loans to the critical sectors of the economy.
This development does not affect the bank’s ability to offer services to its clients in international locations.
Top quality services to international customers will continue through its digital channels (Diamond Mobile, Internet Banking, etc.) and network of correspondence banks.
This notification was signed by
Uzoma Uja Company Secretary/Legal Adviser
for the Diamond Bank