This archive report was first published on 9 August 2019.
On August 9, 2019, the Treasury Secretary, Ukur Yatani, announced that the government would support KCB's acquisition of National Bank of Kenya (NBK), a move that contradicts a recent parliamentary directive.
The National Assembly's Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning had previously recommended that the government reject the takeover deal, citing concerns that it undervalued NBK and was not in the best interest of workers, taxpayers, and minority shareholders.
However, Mr. Yatani stated that the government had been engaged in the process as any other shareholder and was confident that the merger would yield positive results for both KCB and National Bank.
The Central Bank of Kenya had earlier warned that failure to rescue NBK would lead to its collapse, while the Capital Markets Authority noted that the success or failure of the takeover depended on the two banks' shareholders.
MPs had recommended that the government seek cash to recapitalize NBK, a feat that the Treasury had failed to achieve in the past decade, pushing the bank to the brink of collapse.
