Monrovia – The commercial bank that has taken over erstwhile First International Bank Liberia Limited says it wishes to announce its commencement of banking operations which started Monday 6th June 2016.
GN Bank has been given a license to provide banking products and services by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL).
“We wish to assure the customers of the former First International Bank of Liberia, the Central Bank of Liberia and the Government and people of Liberia that we are ready to bring the best management, technology and close-to-client services to make it the bank of choice. We pledge to serve with discipline and enthusiasm”, the bank stated.
GN Bank Liberia Limited is a member of Groupe Nduom, a conglomerate with over 50 companies in Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, UK and the USA.
Groupe Nduom is into hospitality, banking, insurance, media, technology, real estate, pension and investment banking.
In a statement issued Saturday, the CBL stated that the Board of Governors of the Bank has approved of significant portion of the assets and assumption of all the deposits of FIBLL and the new bank will now be known as the GN Bank Liberia Limited.
“The Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Liberia pursuant to the authority vested in the Bank under section 40 (13) of the New Financial Institutions Act of 1999 has approved the purchase of significant portion of the assets and assumption of all the deposits of FIBLL, except one (1) large foreign depositor and one (1) large creditor of FIBLL by GN Bank Limited, a new bank licensed by the CBL, which is owned by Ghana Growth Fund Company (GGFC).
GGFC is already part of the Liberian financial system as the as the owner of the Liberian Enterprise development Finance Company (LEDFC). LEDFC, as a development finance company, was licensed to provide financing to small and medium businesses.
As at January 26, 2016, it had extended a total loan of US$15 million. Some of the sectors that have benefited from such loans include the services sector, agricultural sector, health sector, education sector (in terms of financing for construction of schools), and waste management Ghana Growth Fund Company is a member of Groupe Nduom.
Groupe Nduom is a broad based multinational business group with investments in Financial Services, Technology, Investment Advisory and Management, Media, Management Consulting, etc”, statement from the CBL disclosed.
According to the CBL, the FIBLL, with approximately US$21.5 million in assets as of March 31, 2016, will be closed as of Saturday, June 4 and the provisional administrator (PA) who was appointed on January 27, 2016 to take charge of the bank has been given the mandate to facilitate the sale of its assets and transfer deposits to the new bank as specified in the new agreement.
The CBL has indicated that the eight offices and two cash windows of the FIBLL across the country will reopen on today, Monday as branches of GN Bank Liberia Limited with a new Management team and Board of Directors and depositors of the former FIBLL will automatically become depositors of GN Bank Liberia Limited.
At the time of closure, the CBL disclosed that FIBLL had total deposits of approximately US$23 million in about 42,000 accounts.
US$18. 5 million invested
The CBL has also disclosed that GN Bank Limited has brought in a total amount of US$18.5 million which the CBL says is adequate to meet the minimum capital requirement.
“GN Bank Liberia Limited has brought in a total of US$18.5 million which adequate to meet the minimum capital defined by the CBL and together with the purchased liquid assets, it provides sufficient protection for all deposits it has assumed.
The CBL as the Reorganization Authority, acting through PwC as its reorganization firm, will retain the remaining assets and liabilities for later disposition. Information concerning the loans and other assets of the former bank will be communicated to the concerned individuals and entities as soon as practicable”, the CBL furthered.