Imperial Bank depositors during a protest in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Depositors at Imperial Bank will in a month’s time know what
percentage of their resources they can access when KCB Group concludes
due diligence on the collapsed lender.
Central Bank of
Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge told Parliament Tuesday KCB is expected
to finalise carrying its assessment of the collapsed lender by end of
March.
The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), one of
the biggest depositors at Imperial Bank, in October moved to court
seeking access to information on discussions between the CBK and KCB.
“KCB
needed to finalise some due diligence, which we expect it to finalise
by the end of March. This will then give concrete answers to amounts and
percentages,” Dr Njoroge told the National Assembly Finance Committee
yesterday.
KCB intends to acquire prime Imperial Bank branches following a takeover of the collapsed lender’s loan book.
The
Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation in an earlier announcement said KCB
was conducting due diligence that would pave the way for the takeover
of the unnamed branches.
Imperial Bank had 27 outlets across the country when it went under. Financial details of the takeover are yet to be made public.
Depositors
at the bank in December got a disbursement amounting to 12.7 per cent
or about Sh8 billion of deposit balances through KCB.
The
KTDA in January recovered Sh1.7 billion from the collapsed Chase and
Imperial banks, easing the blow on farmers who had banked Sh4.9 billion
in the failed lenders.
Dr Njoroge said a decision would
be made concerning the residual assets as soon as there is clarity on
the KCB offer in terms of what assets the lender will be willing to
take.
“So the depositors’ concern is well taken care of and is something we would like to conclude quickly,” he said.
Dr
Njoroge said the CBK was still pursuing individuals who led to the
collapse of Imperial Bank and would not rest until they are brought to
book.
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