Sunday, January 1, 2017

Merged NCC Bank starts operation

Nepal Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank and four development banks – Infrastructure Development Bank, International Development Bank, Apex Development Bank and Supreme Development Bank – formally merged and started operations as NCC Bank from today.
Inaugurating the merged entity the central bank Governor Dr Chiranjibi Nepal advised bankers to be disciplined while mobilising people’s deposits. He urged the bankers and the board members to be remember as they are only the custodians of the public’s money and it is their duty to mobilise that money honestly and wisely. "The shareholders of the bank are also equally responsible for the betterment of the bank," he said, expecting that the bank will nowonwards perform better.
Addressing the function, the chief executive of merged NCC Bank Ramesh Raj Aryal said the bank had been under the helm of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) for the last three years after being deemed to have bad corporate governance, but had since improved its financial status and merged with the four development banks.
NCC Bank now has a paid-up capital of Rs 4.67 billion, Aryal said, adding that the bank had around Rs 55 billion in deposit and around Rs 48 billion in loans and advances. “The bank has Rs 980 million in reserve after the merger,” he said.
Aryal further said that after adding what it had in reserve, paid-up capital would cross Rs 5 billion. “We are committed to reaching the mandatory paid-up capital requirement of Rs 8 billion set by NRB before its mid-July 2017 deadline.”
NCC now has a network of 96 branch network.
He also pledged to make the bank among the top five commercial banks within a year.
On the occasion, executive director of the central bank Laxmi Prapanna Niraula, who had taken over the bank’s management three years ago, also spoke of his association and achievements during the period.
Niraula and his team will leave the NCC Bank from tomorrow, handing over the management to an ad-hoc board. The ad-hoc board, chaired by Upendra Keshari Neupane, includes Iman Singh Lama, Madhav Prasad Bhatta, Bishnu Prasad Dhital, Chandra Prasad Bastola, MP Mohan Basnet, Kailash Patindra Amatya and Krishna Shrestha as members. A professional board member will be appointed soon, the bank said.
Prior to the merger, NCC Bank had a paid-up capital of Rs 2.03 billion, while Infrastructure Development Bank, International Development Bank, Apex Development Bank and Supreme Development Bank had paid-up capitals of around Rs 910 million, Rs 770 million, Rs 670 million and 870 million, respectively, according to NCC Bank.
All the five financial institutions had signed memorandum of understanding for merger on November 27, 2015, and had sought approval from the central bank. The final approval from the central bank and the Office of Company Registrar was issued on December 5 and December 29, respectively.

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