Chase bank to reopen next week, KCB takes it over

Chase bank’s 62 branches will be reopened by next Wednesday after the Central Bank agreed the proposal by Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to acquire a good percentage of the bank’s stake.

The bank was closed down and put under receivership by the national government of Kenya some thirteen days ago citing unsafe financial conditions.

In a statement on Wednesday, the central bank’s Governor Patrick Njoroge said Kenya Commercial Bank beat eight other institutions and banks that had expressed interest in taking control of Chase bank.

According to the central bank governor, depositors will access up to Ksh 1 million with 167,000 depostitors who make 97 percent of the bank’s depositors getting their cash in full.

The CBK governor Patrick Njoroge said they received nine propasals, including six from local investors, two foreign and one from existing Chase Bank shareholders and of all the KCB was considered appropriate to take over Chase bank .

CBK were forced to step in with emergency support to stem depositor panic after the collapse of Chase Bank last week.

Chase bank is the third lender to be placed under statutory management since August last year. The other banks that were placed under the same are Imperial Bank of Kenya and Dubai Bank Kenya.

A run on Chase Bank, which was Kenya’s 11th largest at the time it was placed into receivership on April 7, gathered pace as the lender’s chairman and group managing director resigned shortly after announcing restated earnings with a qualified audit opinion.