Sterling Bank to become holding company, plans Islamic banking

Sterling Bank says it has received approval-in-principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to restructure its business and become a holding company.

In a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday, the bank said the restructuring became necessary due to its desire to make its non-interest banking arm a standalone business.

According to the notice signed by Temitayo Adegoke, the company secretary, the holding company will operate on three major premises – specialisation, partnership and digitisation.

It said the conventional bank will focus on building skills and using technology to provide services in areas that are important to the development of the country.

It listed the areas to include health, education, agriculture, renewable energy and transportation (HEART).

“The non-interest bank will focus on building partnerships that connect individuals and businesses leveraging technology to create business optimization while solving for an individual’s daily financial needs,” the notice read.

“The overall business will focus on social impact, corporate responsibility and religious compliance in its dealings.

“Our digitisation drive will create an enabling environment for both financial institutions to grow while providing services and support to build efficiencies in different ecosystems.”

The bank said the holding company structure will help to expand its business model which is built on social capitalism “where we believe that private sector capital and market-based
tools will offer the best types of solutions to Nigeria’s most pressing social and environmental challenges”.

“The execution of our plans is fully dependent on our interwoven operating model of agility, specialisation and digitisation. Essentially, for us to be successful, we require people who are adaptable and knowledgeable running processes that are simple, quick and tech-led to ensure efficiency.”

It said it is in the process of meeting the conditions required for the final approval.