First City Monument Bank Limited says it has commenced commercial banking operations at its London subsidiary, FCMB (UK) Limited.
It said this is sequel to approval by the regulatory authorities late 2013 to begin wholesale deposit taking for businesses and corporate organisations.
These activities represent an expansion of its existing stock broking and corporate finance activities, which commenced in 2009.
A statement by the bank said FCMB (UK) Limited has received approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority, the UK financial services regulator, to carry out deposit taking and commercial banking operations. This represents the next step in FCMB’s plans to further internationalise its activities in the area of commercial banking.
Ladi Balogun, the chief executive officer of the UK banking subsidiary’s parent company, First City Monument Bank, said, “We are pleased to be commencing banking operations in our UK subsidiary. This will enable us to offer a more complete service to our Nigerian customers engaged in international trade and corporate clients resident in the United Kingdom. We look forward to offering the high service standards that our customers have come to expect from us. From our FCMB (UK) base we will also establish a pan-African financing platform, with special focus on natural resources and related value chains, an area where we have already established a leadership position in Nigeria.”
