Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, yesterday, said it will be seeking its shareholders’ approval concerning its planned adoption of a holding company structure.

According to a statement by the bank, it would be holding a court ordered meeting of its shareholders with the aim of adopting a holding company (HoldCo) structure which has already been registered as Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.

This new structure, according to the bank, will be proposed to shareholders in compliance with the revised regulatory framework by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, which requires banks to divest from non-core banking businesses or adopt a holding structure. The new structure comes into effect in September 2012.

The operating subsidiaries of the new holding company, according to Mrs. Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive Officer of the bank, will be Stanbic IBTC Bank (including Stanbic Nominees Nigeria Ltd), Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, and Stanbic IBTC Investments Limited.

“A major reason for adopting the new structure is to consolidate our goal of building Nigeria’s leading end-to-end financial services organization, leveraging on our competitive advantages in the various business segments, including banking, pensions, stock-broking, custody and asset management,” she stated.

David-Borha emphasized that the new structure will impact positively on shareholders and customers, as the group will leverage the capacities resident in each business to further improve the entire group’s ability to maintain sustainable growth and further supported by the financial resources and global network of the Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC belongs.

Stanbic IBTC, she reiterated, will continue to partner Nigeria in unlocking the country’s growth potential to accelerate the country’s socio-economic development, notwithstanding the fast-changing and challenging operating environment.

Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Bank belongs, is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in key sub-Saharan and other emerging markets. Standard Bank is a bank with a global reach. It has been a mainstay of South Africa’s financial system for almost 150 years.

Standard Bank is a major African banking group focused on building the first-class on-the-ground banks in chosen countries in Africa and connecting other selected emerging markets to Africa and to each other. It has a footprint which now spans 18 countries across the African continent, including South Africa, and 13 countries outside Africa, including China and Brazil, which are key to its cross border strategy and success.