Maravi

Finance Bank to establish branch in DRC

Finance Bank to establish branch in DRC
Written by Nchima Nchito Jr
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:35:45 AM

FINANCE Bank Zambia (FBZ) has revealed that its plans to establish a sister bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should materialise by the end of this year.

Responding to a press query, FBZ executive director corporate banking and marketing Noel Nkoma stated that Finance Bank expected the approval of a full banking licence during the third quarter of this year.

“Plans for the establishment of Finance Bank DRC are on course and to this effect, a team of corporate lawyers have been engaged to attend to the documentation,” he stated. “We envisage that a full banking license should be approved by the third quarter of this year on target to commence operations before year-end.”

Asked on the current economic slump and its effects on FBZ’s future, Nkoma stated that Finance Bank, like any other business, continuously reviewed its operating costs in relation to the revenue streams with strict adherence to the approved budget lines.

“At this stage, FBZ does not have any plans of laying off staff but having said that, we will approach this issue from a position of staff rationalisation, bearing in mind that we are expanding our service delivery reach,” he said.

And Nkoma stated that FBZ’s plans to list on the Lusaka Stock exchange were on course, with a K500 billion pre-listing bond targeted for November 2009.

“This position is supported by the Chairman’s report in the 2008 Annual Report wherein he did also indicate that the listing will be preceded by floating of a pre-listing K500 billion bond which is on target by November 2009,” he stated.

Nkoma added that FBZ had identified a financial institution based in London to act as transaction advisor and arrange underwriting of the bond.

Labels: DRC, FINANCE BANK

posted by MrK @ 8:36 AM