Speaking to the depositors of the collapsed lender, CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said they are open to investors who are willing to bring the bank back on its feet/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 28 – If you want to buy the collapsed Imperial Bank, you will need to have capital of about Sh40 billion, the Central Bank of Kenya says.
Speaking to the depositors of the collapsed lender, CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said they are open to investors who are willing to bring the bank back on its feet.
Njoroge urged depositors to support the recovery process that he promised will be completed within 48 weeks.
“We know that there is a lot of frustration, anger, and despair with the depositors who are yet to access their cash 625 days after the bank was put under receivership but I want to affirm that our key focus is that depositors get full access to their cash and liquidating the bank is the worst option especially for depositors,” he said.
CBK and Kenya Depository Insurance Corporation has so far paid over 45,000 depositors out of 50,000 depositors some Sh18 billion.
“We are not removing any option from the table, we are looking at investors who are keen to offer rapid recovery of your deposits, we will do everything in our power to accelerate the process that has taken too long due to the court processes, we urge you to support us,” he noted.
Going forward, he directed KDIC to continue with recovering loans and advances.
The regulator was granted a 90-day extension of receivership by the High Court following an agreement between the shareholders.
“We have met with the shareholders four times now, and we continue to converse if they have a clear strategy, enough capital and in line with regulatory guidelines,” he said.
Going forward, CBK and KDIC will continue to engage stakeholders concerning the next steps in the resolution for IBLR, as permitted by the law.
Already, over eight foreign firms have shown interest in entering Kenya’s banking sector.
The sector is, however, facing challenges with the rate capping low that has seen earnings in the sector decreasing.
CBK has already licensed to two new banks namely Mayfair Limited and Dubai Islamic Bank.
