Polaris Bank Limited
Polaris Bank Limited, is a commercial bank based in Nigeria. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country's banking regulator. Overview. Polaris Bank is a large financial services provider in West Africa and Central Africa. With headquarters in Nigeria, the bank maintains subsidiaries in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. , the bank's total assets were valued in excess of US$3.9 billion (NGN:611.5 billion), with shareholders' equity of approximately US$630 million (NGN:98.4 billion). History. The bank traces its origins back to 1989 when "Prudent  Bank Plc.", was incorporated as a limited liability company. In 1990, the bank was issued a license as merchant bank. That same year, it re-branded as "Prudent Merchant Bank Limited". In 2006, Prudent Merchant Bank Limited merged with four other banks to form Skye Bank Plc.: In January 2011, the bank introduced a Naira-denominated MasterCard debit card, called "MasterCard Verve", the first of its kind in Nigeria. The bank also offers Internet banking and mobile banking. In 2014, the bank acquired Mainstreet Bank Limited. Ownership. On 21 September 2018, Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of  Nigeria announced in Lagos that the apex bank had revoked the operating licence of Skye Bank. Michael also stated that the assets and liabilities of the bank would be taken over by a new entity, Polaris Bank due to the inability of the Skye Bank's shareholders to adequately recapitalise the bank after the 2016 intervention. Branch network. Polaris Bank Limited maintains an interlinked branch network of over two hundred and sixty (260) branches in all parts of Nigeria. The bank maintains her headquarters at 3 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. Governance. Effective 2016, the Chairman  of the Board is M. K. Ahmad, who chairs the sixteen (16) member Board of Directors. The Acting Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director is Mr. Innocent C. Ike