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Imperial Bank clients to know fate of deposits

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Imperial Bank depositors during a protest in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Depositors at Imperial Bank will in a month’s time know what percentage of their resources they can access when KCB Group #ticker:KCB concludes due diligence on the collapsed lender.

Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge told Parliament Tuesday KCB is expected to finalise carrying its assessment of the collapsed lender by end of March.

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), one of the biggest depositors at Imperial Bank, in October moved to court seeking access to information on discussions between the CBK and KCB.

“KCB needed to finalise some due diligence, which we expect it to finalise by the end of March. This will then give concrete answers to amounts and percentages,” Dr Njoroge told the National Assembly Finance Committee yesterday.

KCB intends to acquire prime Imperial Bank branches following a takeover of the collapsed lender’s loan book.

The Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation in an earlier announcement said KCB was conducting due diligence that would pave the way for the takeover of the unnamed branches.

Imperial Bank had 27 outlets across the country when it went under. Financial details of the takeover are yet to be made public.

Depositors at the bank in December got a disbursement amounting to 12.7 per cent or about Sh8 billion of deposit balances through KCB.

The KTDA in January recovered Sh1.7 billion from the collapsed Chase and Imperial banks, easing the blow on farmers who had banked Sh4.9 billion in the failed lenders.

Dr Njoroge said a decision would be made concerning the residual assets as soon as there is clarity on the KCB offer in terms of what assets the lender will be willing to take.

“So the depositors’ concern is well taken care of and is something we would like to conclude quickly,” he said.

Dr Njoroge said the CBK was still pursuing individuals who led to the collapse of Imperial Bank and would not rest until they are brought to book.