Shareholders of First City Monument Bank Plc have approved the delisting of the bank preparatory to the listing of FCMB Holdco on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The shareholders during the bank’s Court Ordered Meeting in Lagos on Monday unanimously agreed that all holders of ordinary shares of the bank as at the terminal date would exchange their shares in the bank for shares in the Holdco at the rate of one bank share for one Holdco

The Managing Director, FCMB, Mr. Ladi Balogun, said the bank’s shareholding in permissible non-banking subsidiaries and investments would be transferred to the Holdco at the respective book values of the said subsidiaries and investments on the bank’s balance sheet as at December 31, 2011.

According to him, the bank’s interest in permissible subsidiaries and investments will remain unchanged, and they shall continue to be direct subsidiaries of the bank.

Also, part of the elements of the scheme of arrangement approved by the shareholders was the reorganisation of the bank’s authorised share capital by reducing same by a total of N8bn.

The Chairman, FCMB, Dr. Jonathan Long, said the board considered the terms of the scheme to be fair and reasonable, and in its opinion, the best and most efficient option, towards complying with Regulation 3.

“The bank’s proposal, as contained in the compliance plan, was therefore to create a new non-operating holding company, FCMB Group Plc which will hold the shares in the commercial banking business as well as the current permissible non-banking subsidiaries and investments,” he added.

The shareholders, however, faulted the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission over what they perceived as policy inconsistency.

They specifically faulted the universal banking model of the CBN.

The National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Nwosu, said, “One of our problems in this country is policy inconsistency. I don’t see any reason why the CBN will repeal the universal banking. I won’t be surprised if another CBN governor comes and cancel this current policy introduced by the CBN.”

The President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission had not done enough to protect investors.

Okezie added, “We must try to master things in this country. Every office holder comes and experiments. They do not care what is happening to 150 million Nigerians.”

Source: Punch