Central Bank seeks Imperial Bank receivership extension

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will next week move to court to seek an extension on its control of Imperial Bank.

Speaking to a section of depositors in Nairobi on Thursday, Central Bank governor Patrick Njoroge said this was to give them more time engage with the KCB Group.

On Tuesday, the Central Bank and the Kenya Depositors Insurance Corporation (KDIC) revealed that KCB Group was on the front row in attempts to take over Imperial Bank.

“We need more time to get a better deal. The biggest issue now is valuation of the loans,” Njoroge told the depositors on Thursday.

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The CBK boss however could not explain to the depositors how much time he was seeking.

“Our lawyers will advise us on this. But of course it is getting clearer with KCB in the picture,” the governor noted.

This will be the fourth extension the regulator will be requesting from the courts.

The third and current one will expire at the end of this month (July).

The meeting held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) like the ones before it was very emotional.

Depositors told of their sorrows three years after Imperial Bank was placed under receivership.

Many told of their suffering and sickness as a result of the delayed action in reinstating the bank back to business. Others shared how they had been reduced to beggars as their businesses collapsed.

Imperial Bank was placed under receivership in October 2015 shortly after the sudden death of Group managing director Abdulmalek Jan Mohammed.

Shareholders and directors of the lender had opted to alert the regulator of suspect dealings they had uncovered.

In its decision to put the bank under receivership, the CBK indicated it was meant to protect depositors as it investigated the suspect dealings.

At the point of its collapse, Imperial Bank held over Ksh80 billion in customer deposits. Its operations were spread in Kenya and Uganda.