The SunTrust Bank Nigeria Ltd has now become the only bank in Nigeria to be granted a new licence to operate as a commercial bank with regional authorisation since 2001 after scaling the very stringent conditions set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Alhaji Muhammad Jibrin Barde, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, dropped this hint in a statement in Abuja, which described its latest feat as remarkable, adding that the approval given on September 17 came one year and two months after the application was filed.
Barde said the bank would be formally unveiled to the public during the first quarter of next year.
In his words, “This is indeed a remarkable feat as ours is the only fresh licence to be issued by CBN since 2001.
“Our journey as a bank since 2009 details the courageous decisions and heroic self-sacrifice of all the people that made SunTrust’s assent possible,” he said.
He assured that in the years to come, the developments at the new bank would have far-reaching influence in the banking sector specifically and the nation in general.
The latest approval by the CBN brings to 23, the number of commercial banks in the country.
-Leadership