The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has so far received five suitors wanting to buy the collapsed Chase Bank, the regulator’s governor Patrick Njoroge said on Friday.
"We have received upwards of five institutions, both local and foreign, wanting to buy the bank. We are evaluating this interests," said Dr Njoroge during a press briefing.
The CBK governor said the regulator considered reviving Chase Bank to be a much easier undertaking than in the case of Imperial Bank, which collapsed last October.
For Chase Bank, he said, assets could be identified and sold while there was also willingness by the shareholders and directors to move quickly and resolve the outstanding matters including completion of registration of collateral documents for the previously unsecured loans.
However in the case of Imperial Bank, there was outright fraud that needed to be dealt with.
Early last week, the Business Daily carried a report showing that KCB Group, Centum Investments, I&M, Equity and Commercial Bank of Africa were interested in purchasing the bank.
Chase Bank collapsed last Thursday following a ran that drained Sh8 billion from the bank in one day.
It later emerged that the bank had loaned Sh16.6 billion irregularly and the external auditor expressed inability to establish the state of the institution’s finances.
