Guardian Express Bank to Be Listed on NSE
New Capital
By Ayodele Aminu
The number of banks quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may soon increase to 32 as Guardian Express Bank has indicated its willingness to be listed on the Exchange.
Managing director/chief executive officer of the bank, Mr. Mike Chukwu made this known at the weekend during a cocktail organized for stockbrokers to mark the appointment of the bank as a settlement bank for the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS).
CSCS is a subsidiary of the NSE. It operates a computerized clearing, settlement and delivery system for transactions in shares listed on the NSE. It also functions as a central depository for share certificates of companies quoted on the Exchange, sub-registry of all quoted companies, issuer of identification numbers of stock brokers and investors, as well as a safe-keeper of local and foreign investment instruments.
The Guardian Express boss, who used the occasion to introduce the product specifically designed for stockbrokers, said it was vision of the owners of the bank for it to be listed on the Exchange.
"The fact that we started as Limited Liability Company indicates the vision the owners of the bank had in mind. They wanted it become a public company," he stressed.
Noting that the Guardian Express Bank was the first bank to commenced business with a share capital of N1 billion when the minimum for the industry was N500 million, he said the bank has been able to transform into one of the fastest growing banks in the country.
"We started three years ago with one branch which has now grown to 20. We have been able to grow annually at an average speed of 100 per cent and we have grown our balance sheet size to over N24 billion.
Our appointment as a settlement bank by the NSE and the Central Securities Clearing System is a great testimony and sign of confidence reposed on us. Guardian Express Bank will not betray this confidence, he emphasized.
He told shareholders that after a critical look into their operations, the bank came out with a product geared towards growing their businesses.
"We (Guardian Express Bank) are here to present before you what we consider to be a unique business opportunity to grow your businesses. We have a product desk for capital market operators because we recognize the structure of the market and we are ready to provide the financial facilities to meet those gaps.
"We were the first bank to pay Commission on Turnover (COT) of our customers' account. You will therefore gain additional income by passing your business through us," he stated.
This is against the traditional practice of most Nigerian banks, which charge COT on customers' transactions or offer zero COT that was pioneered by Metropolitan Bank.
Since inception, Guardian Express Bank has carved a niche for pioneering a number of services and products in the Nigerian banking industry. The bank, it would be recalled, introduced a set of Guaranteed Service Standards to bridge the gaps in the industry.
Such services include cash and teller; funds transfer; customer service, treasury operations and dealing as well as trade. The bank pays various amounts of money if it defaults in rendering any of these services at the stipulated time.
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