CBN withdraws Skye Bank license authorizes Polaris Bank to take over

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria has withdrawn the operating license of Skye Bank Plc and authorized a new bank known as Polaris Bank to take over its assets and liabilities.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this on Friday, said the strategy was for the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to capitalise the bridge bank and begin the process of sourcing investors to buy out AMCON.

Emefiele in a statement mae available to Nigerianflightdeck said,”As a responsible and responsive regulator and in consultation with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), we have decided to establish a bridge bank, Polaris Bank, to assume the assets and liabilities of Skye bank. The strategy is for the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to capitalize the Bridge Bank and begin the process of sourcing investors to buy out AMCON. By this decision, the licence of the defunct Skye Bank is hereby revoked.”

“We wish to assure all depositors that under this arrangement, their deposits shall remain safe and that normal banking services shall continue in the new bank on Monday, 24th September, 2018, to enable customers to transact their businesses seamlessly.”

It was learnt that the reason for bank’s present development was capital inadequacy .

Recall that on 4th July 2016, the CBN took a regulatory action on Skye bank Nigeria PLC which led to the resignation of the Chairman, all Non-Executive Directors on the Board as well as the Managing Director, Deputy Managing Director, and the two longest-serving Executive Directors on the Management Team

The CBN governor in his statement reiterated that at that time the proactive action was informed by unacceptable corporate governance lapses as well as the persistent failure of Skye Bank PLC to meet minimum thresholds in critical prudential and adequacy ratios, which culminated in the banks permanent presence at the CBN Lending Window.

He said, “The focus of the action then was to save depositors funds and to ensure that the bank continued as a going concern, being a systemically important bank. Part of our intention was also to stem the imminent job losses to staff if a liquidation option had been adopted. These objectives have been fully achieved and the bank has been able to meet customer obligations, having curtailed the liquidity haemorrhage and restored depositor confidence. “