Zenith Bank Plc has announced its intention to fully exit the regulatory forbearance arrangement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by June 30, 2025.
This was revealed in a statement filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday.
Zenith Bank is among the financial institutions impacted by the CBN’s directive, which temporarily halts dividend payments, director bonuses, and investments in foreign subsidiaries due to regulatory forbearance linked to the Single Obligor Limit (SOL) and other credit exposures.
In the statement signed by its Company Secretary, Michael Otu, the bank stated it has “successfully raised and surpassed the new regulatory capital requirement of N500bn.
The Bank’s exposure under the SOL forbearance relates solely to a single obligor. We are confident that this exposure will be brought within the applicable regulatory limit on or before 30 June 2025.”
The statement continued, “With respect to the forbearance granted on other credit facilities, the Bank confirms that this applies to only two (2) customers. We have made substantial provisions in respect of these facilities and have taken appropriate and comprehensive steps to ensure full provisioning by 30 June 2025.
“Upon completion, the Bank will no longer be under any forbearance arrangements in this regard. The Bank expects to have exited all CBN forbearance arrangements by the end of the first half of 2025.”
The lender also assured shareholders of its ability to meet all relevant conditions to allow for dividend payment within the year.
Meanwhile, the CBN on Tuesday reaffirmed its position on the policy and clarified that only a limited number of banks are affected by the directive.
In a statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications, Sidi Ali, the apex bank said, “The measures announced apply only to a limited number of banks.
“These include temporary restrictions on capital distributions, such as dividends and bonuses, to support retention of internally generated funds and bolster capital adequacy.
“All affected banks have been formally notified and remain under close supervisory engagement.”
