UBA seeks approval to restructure

United Bank for Africa said it will seek shareholders’ approval to transfer its subsidiaries into a newly-formed holding company, in line with regulatory requirements to separate core banking from other businesses. The central bank last year scrapped the universal banking model and directed banks in Nigeria to sell their stakes in non-banking subsidiaries or adopt a holding company structure. “What we are seeking is to transfer all our subsidiaries into an holding company; UBA Holdings Plc in line with regulatory directive and still sustain value for the shareholders.”
Under the new structure, 40 per cent of the present UBA group will be transferred to the holding company, which will be listed sometime next year, while the bank will retain 60 percent of its present form and operate as a subsidiary of the holding company. The UBA banking group currently operates in 19 African countries with interest in real estate and asset management.