The Imperial Bank, a partner of Arsenal Football Club has been put under statutory management in Kenya and Uganda, after “unsafe and unsound business conditions to transact business” were detected.
The Central Bank of Kenya governor, Dr. Patrick Njoroge, said that the board of directors of Imperial Bank brought to the attention of the CBK the inappropriate banking practices that warranted the immediate remedial action in order to safeguard the interests of both depositors and creditors.
Njoroge announced that he had appointed the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) as the manager of the lender for twelve months.
Ugandan authorities also moved swiftly to follow their Kenyan counterparts suit by putting five subsidiaries of the Imperial Bank under statutory management.
These moves in the two East African countries sent shock waves in the banking sector in the region and elicited fresh questions on whether some financial institutions have been eluding the regulators’ eyes.
KDIC acting CEO Aggrey Bett confirmed that the corporation had assumed control of the assets, liabilities, business and affairs of the bank with immediate effect.
Bett said that normal operations of the bank had already been suspended except for the collection of loan repayments or any other payments into the bank.
Arsenal football club entered a partnership with Imperial bank to issue co-branded debit cards throughout Kenya and Uganda.
The three year partnership was the first major international financial agreement of its kind for the club, as it built on the massive support it receives in Africa.
