MPs’ Chase Bank probe points to delayed sale
Customers at a Chase Bank branch. FILE PHOTO | NMG
What you need to know:
- MPs want to review the terms of the proposed acquisition of the troubled lender, including the financing of the intended acquisition, fees payable to all parties including transaction advisors and ownership of all firms involved in the transaction.
- The legislators say they want to safeguard the interests of depositors, creditors and the wider public.
Parliament has 60 days to investigate the proposed acquisition of Chase Bank by a Mauritius lender SBM Holdings, pointing to a likely further delay of the underway transaction.
The MPs say they want to safeguard the interests of depositors, creditors and the wider public.
They want to review the terms of the proposed acquisition of the troubled lender, including the financing of the intended acquisition, fees payable to all parties including transaction advisors and ownership of all firms involved in the transaction.
The move follows a public petition presented to the National Assembly by three depositors through Kiambu MP Jude Njomo.
The petitioners- Rose Njoki Muhoho, Jacob Njuguna Mwihaki and Magaret Mugure Gakuru- want Parliament to investigate whether the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Kenya Insurance Deposit Corporation (KIDC) have so far provided or undertaken to provide any technical or financial support to the Mauritian Bank in connection with the acquisition of Chase Bank by SBM Holdings.
The Mauritian lender received the nod from CBK to acquire Chase Bank in early January in a deal that will see SBM Holdings take up the carved out assets and liabilities of the Kenyan lender.
The deal will also see SBM Holdings absorb Chase Bank’s staff.
