Alpha Morgan, Keystone, Parallex Bank , Others Yet to Finalise Recapitalisation

As banking recapitalisation exercise heats up, and barely two months to the March 31st 2026 deadline, no fewer than 12 banks are still struggling to finalise their recapitalisation plan.

They include: Keystone Bank, Alpha Morgan Bank, Parallex Bank, Taj Bank, Signaure Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, SunTrust Bank, Titan Trust Bank, FBN Merchant Bank, Coronation Merchant Bank and Rand Merchant Bank.

Unity Bank, on the other hand,merged with Providus Bank while Union Bank who has merged with Titan Trust Bank, have not disclosed their status as to whether they wants International or National status,

Findings revealed that all of them are still in discussion with investors and are considering several options to scale through this process. While some of them are considering mergers and acquisitions, others are considering license downgrade to regional status which would mean they require less capital to operate.

In the ongoing exercise, banks who wants international license must have N500billion capital while those targeting National status must recapitalise to N200billion even as those eyeing Regional Status only needs N50billion to scale through.

While. growing investor apathy has made it difficult for some banks to raise funds through public offers, high inflation, currency volatility, and rising non-performing loans (NPLs) have hindered capital accumulation.

The CBN has indicated that it will not hesitate to enforce penalties, including licence downgrades for those that fail to meet the requirements by the deadline.

The affected banks are now in a race against time to scale through but signs are there that no exisiting banking license will be withdrawn. The worst case scenario is to offer themselves for acquisition or merger or accept that their license be downgraded.

Some banks have already opted to downgrade their licenses, mostly. from national to regional to align with lower minimum capital requirements.

Meanwhile, 24 banks have so far scaled through the hurdle and have declared which strata they are going to be operating going forward.

All compliant banks have done so within three categories of license which includes; International, National and Regional status. Those with international banking license and have recapitalised to N500billion include; Access Bank, Zenith Bank, GTBank: First Bank of Nigeria and UBA (United Bank for Africa). For those with National license and have capitalised N200billion, they include; FCMB Group Plc, Stanbic IBTC, Citibank Nigeria, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank and Globus Bank, among others.

At the regional level and Non-interest segment, they only need to recapitalise to N50billion.Some of the banks in this category include; Providus Bank Limited, The Alternative Bank, Signature Bank Limited, Abbey Bank Ltd, among others.

Moreover, at the weekend, it was learnt that, FCMB Group Plc has secured qualification for a national banking status. This, it did, having surpassed the N200billion minimum capital for a national license long before now. Insider information from the bank reveals that the the Group is now building on this development to finally acquired an international license before the window for recapitalisation closes on March 31st.

By late 2025, FCMB launched a N160 billion public offer specifically to retain its International License. For customers, this means the bank’s core operations are safe, but its ability to continue seamless cross-border services depends on the final validation of this latest capital raise.

While the largest banks have completed their recapitalisation programmes, the pressure has pivoted to Tier-2 and Tier-3 banks.

The spokesperson for The Alternative Bank, Mr. Fisayo Osindeinde, while responding to enquiries made by BUSINESSDIARY at the weekend, noted that,

post recapitalisation, both Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank will be retaining national licenses in their respective categories.

“As you are aware, recapitalisation is a phased process, and Sterling Bank, as of December last year, had concluded the required capital-raising steps following a series of targeted efforts by its parent company, Sterling HoldCo. Next step now is to conclude the allotment process with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January.

“For The Alternative Bank, its recapitalisation was completed in May 2025, enabling it to continue operating fully within the national non-interest banking segment, where it is focused on asset-backed financing and value-based banking solutions.

“Overall, both institutions remain aligned with the CBN’s objectives for a stronger, more resilient banking system. The focus at this stage is less about license migration and more about deploying strengthened balance sheets to support the real economy responsibly,” he pointed out.

Reacting to the development, an analyst on enterprise risk management for DataPro, Idris Shittu said: “Past consolidation efforts, such as those in 2005, highlight the potential pitfalls of IT system failures and cultural clashes. Particularly challenging is the merger of conservative Tier-1 banks with aggressive Tier-2 acquirers, which could cause decision-making gridlock and operational disruptions,”

This regulatory push, he said, has spurred an active M&A environment, but it brings with it considerable risks, adding that, “post-merger integration challenges, including IT system harmonisation, cultural alignment, and the migration of Non-Performing Loans, could strain newly merged entities, especially among smaller banks.

As banks reposition, the sector faces what DataPro characterises as a convergence of three structural pressures, which are; regulatory tightening, execution risk and technological disruption in the ongoing exercise.

“Several banks have already met the new capital thresholds, while others are advancing steadily and are well positioned to comfortably meet the March 31, 2026 deadline, ” governor, CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso had earlier assured.

The recapitalisation drive, it was learnt, is part of a plan to strengthen banks to support a $1 trillion economy, with over N5 trillion already raised collectively by various lenders