By Dipo Olowookere
One of Nigeria’s top financial institutions, Access Bank, has announced the sale of its 17.65 percent equity shareholding in Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited (SIPML) to the company’s majority shareholder, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.
This followed the directive of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Access Bank Plc to divest from SIPML in compliance with the apex bank’s regulation on the Scope of Banking Activities and Ancillary Matters, No.3, 2010.
In a statement issued on Friday, it was stated that the Board of Directors of Access Bank confirmed receiving all regulatory approvals for the transaction.
“Further to the provisions of Rule 17 of The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) Rule Book 2015 and Rule 187 of the Rules & Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 2013 which require the disclosure of material non-public information to the NSE, we hereby notify the NSE of this transaction in view of the possible material effect it may have on the value of Access Bank Plc’s securities listed on the NSE,” the statement said.
Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial bank operating through a network of 310 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, sub-Sahara Africa and the United Kingdom.
It was listed on the NSE in 1998 and serves its various markets through five business segments: Corporate and Investment Banking. Commercial Banking, Business Banking, Personal Banking, Operations and IT Divisions.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka