By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN) is awaiting Regulatory approval to commence its proposed Rights Issue as one of the ways the Bank has mapped out to raise funds in order to meet up with the September 30 2011 deadline issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Funke Osibodu, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) of Union Bank confirmed this to InvestAdvocate in a telephone chat in Lagos Nigeria; while responding to enquiries on the planned Rights Issue to help the Bank recapitalise; since September 30 2011 is close at hand.

“We have done all we have to do and we are only awaiting the Regulators to do their job for us to commence the Rights Issue” Osibodu said.

According to her, the Bank is still on course towards its recapitalisation drive and she has promised shareholders and all stakeholders that Union Bank will recapitalise and meet up the deadline.

Osibodu at a Media Parley with Business Editors some few weeks back disclosed that the Bank has three options it will apply to raise fresh funds in order to recapitalise and move the Bank to the next level by making it bigger, stronger and more reliable.

The options to recapitalise as earlier reported include the announcement in July that the Bank will receive $750 million fresh funds by a group led by Private Equity Company, African Capital Alliance Consortium (ACA Consortium).

Another option is the injection of Capital into the Bank by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), who will make sure that the Negative Capital of the Bank is restored to zero.

Then the third option is the Rights Issue for existing shareholders to take up their Rights and invest more in the Bank.

Prior to this time, the Bank has on Tuesday July 12 2011 signed a Transaction Implementation Agreement (TIA) with its potential core-investor, the ACA Consortium in furtherance to the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed in March this year.

This is coming on the heels of reports that the Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday affirmed that it will clear the TIA submitted by the remaining five Rescued Banks before the September 30 deadline.

Arunma Oteh, the Director-General (DG) of Nigeria’s SEC said that resources had been assigned to review the applications by these Banks before the September 30 deadline.

On August 05 2011, the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) nationalised three Rescued Banks yet to sign the TIA as at then, these Banks were Afribank, Bank PHB and Spring Bank, and their assets and liabilities were transferred to Mainstreet Bank, Keystone Bank, and Enterprise Bank respectively.

On pronouncements from some quarters that the September 30 deadline will be extended, InvestAdvocate can confirm that there are no notifications to that effect.

Osibodu said that Union Bank has not received any letter from the CBN to that effect and therefore is still on course to meet up before September 30 deadline.

Apart from Union Bank, the other rescued Banks are Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank, Finbank and Equitorial Trust Bank; all have signed agreements.