A new bank, Polaris Bank Limited, has taken over the assets and liabilities of Skye Bank Plc, which licence was on Friday evening revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In a statement on Friday evening, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the latest action was taken to “save depositors funds and to ensure that the bank continued as a going concern, being a systemically important bank.”
The Governor also noted that part of the intention was to “stem the imminent job losses to staff if liquidation option had been adopted.”
Emefiele stated that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has already made available N786 billion to adequately capitalise Polaris Bank.
Meanwhile, the entire board and management of the defunct Skye Bank are to be reabsorbed by Polaris Bank under a new contract.
More importantly, customers of the defunct Skye Bank Plc have been reassured of the safety of their deposits as “all customers of Skye Bank shall be automatic customers of the new bank and their accounts and records duly purchased by Polaris Bank Limited.”
Emefiele, in addition, assured that all employees of the defunct Skye Bank would be absorbed by Polaris Bank unless they decide to opt out.
The logo of Polaris Bank Limited was also released on Friday night.