FBC renames StanChart to FBC Crown Bank; targets high-end clientele

ZIMSPHERE

HARARE - After finalizing a US$26.7 million acquisition of Standard Chartered’s Zimbabwe operations in May, FBC Holdings has renamed the enterprise to FBC Crown Bank.

FBC Bank renames StanChart, FBC Bank StanChart, FBC Crown Bank, FBC Building Society, StanChart leaves Zim

The development was confirmed in an official statement by The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Registrar of Banking Institutions, Mr Phillip Madamombe.

FBC Holdings aims to use the market share it earned from the acquisition as a foundation for FBC Crown Bank; a semi-autonomous wholesale banking subsidiary. Wholesale banking provides services to larger clients, such as other banks and institutions. FBC Crown Bank will focus on serving large blue-chip corporate clients and high net worth individual clients.

FBC acquired 100% of Stanchart Zimbabwe and the Africa Enterprise Network Trust, which holds a 20.7% shareholding in Mashonaland Holdings. This was after Stanchart announced in April 2022 that it was leaving Lebanon, Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Jordan, and also exiting the consumer business in Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania. This ended the bank’s 130-year presence in Zimbabwe.

FBC Holdings is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest bank by loan book, and this move will likely bolster its existing retail banking operations.