Fidelity Bank has emerged as the latest lender to indicate that it will bring its forbearance exposure under regulatory compliance by the first half of 2025.
In a press statement filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday night, the lender indicated that its Single Obligor Limits forbearance relates to two obligors and that its other credit forbearance exposure was to only four customers.
Following the June 13 circular from the CBN, which barred affected banks from paying dividends, bonuses, and investments in foreign subsidiaries over regulatory forbearance in respect of the Single Obligor Limit and other credit facilities, Zenith Bank, Access Holdings, and FCMB Group have issued statements indicating that they would meet the CBN timeline.
Fidelity Bank, which expressed a commitment to comply with regulatory directives, said, “The Bank’s exposure under the SOL forbearance relates to two obligors. We are confident that this exposure will be brought within the applicable regulatory limit in H1 2025.
“With respect to the forbearance granted on other credit facilities, the bank confirms that this applies to four customers. We have proactively made substantial provisions on these facilities and have taken targeted and comprehensive steps to ensure full provisioning or return of the accounts to performing status by June 30, 2025.”
The lender added that it expects to exit all CBN forbearance arrangements (SOL/Credit) and remains in a strong position to meet the prevailing requirements to enable it to pay dividends for the current financial year and subsequently.
Ahead of the recapitalisation deadline of the CBN in 2026, the bank successfully raised N273bn through a recent Public Offer and Rights Issue, which were oversubscribed by 237.92 per cent and 137.73 per cent, respectively.
It intends to raise the additional sum of N200bn through a Private Placement this year to achieve the new minimum regulatory capital requirement of N500bn for banks with international authorisation.
Fidelity Bank said that it has received approval from the regulator and its shareholders for the Private Placement, while other regulatory approvals are being processed to ensure completion in 2025.
