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Crane Bank
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1995
Headquarters38 Kampala Road, Kampala, Uganda
Key people
Joseph Biribonwa
chairman
P. K. Gupta
acting chief executive officer
ProductsLoans, savings, checking, investments, debit cards, credit cards, mortgages
RevenueDecreaseAfter tax: UGX:12.52 billion (2015)[1]
Total assetsUGX:1.81 trillion (2015)[1]
Number of employees
600+ (2015)[2]
WebsiteHomepage

Crane Bank Limited was a commercial bank in Uganda licensed and supervised by the Bank of Uganda (BOU), the central bank and national banking regulator.[3] Crane Bank was acquired by DFCU Bank in January 2017 at a cost of Ush200 billion ($52.8 million) on grounds that it was undercapitalized as declared by the regulator Bank of Uganda.

Crane Bank Limited was closed by Bank of Uganda (BoU) on 20 October 2016, after it failed to comply with a capital call on 1 July 2016. On 11 February 2022 the Supreme Court dismissed Bank of Uganda’s appeal against Sudhir Ruparelia and Meera Investments, and ordered the central bank to directly pay costs at all Court levels.[4]

Overview

The bank was a large financial services provider in Uganda. As of 31 December 2015, Crane Bank's assets were UGX:1.81 trillion, with shareholders' equity of UGX:281.43 billion.[1] In October 2015, it had more than 750,000 customers.[5]

History

Crane Bank started operations on 21 August 1995 "with a vision of being the largest privately owned Ugandan Bank."[1]

In September 2012, Crane Bank acquired the assets and some of the liabilities of the National Bank of Commerce, a small, indigenous, financial services provider in Uganda that had lost its banking license.[6]

On 30 January 2014, Crane Bank established Crane Bank Rwanda Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary,[1] with the first branch in Rwanda opening to customers on 30 June 2014.[7]

Ownership

On 27 January 2017, DFCU took over the bank, which had been under the statutory management of the BOU because the bank's liabilities exceeded its assets. The acquisition included all customer deposit accounts and loan accounts.[8][9]

The bank was previously a member of the Ruparelia Group.[10]

In September 2013, Ugandan print media reported that the bank's stock would be listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange in 2014.[11] Those plans, however, were put on hold, with the bank explaining at the end of 2014 that it was focusing on its expansion plans first.[12]

In September 2016, Ugandan print media indicated that the bank was actively searching for a strategic partner to acquire shares in the bank.[13] In October 2016, the potential strategic partner was identified as Bob Diamond of the Atlas Mara Limited. Negotiations were still ongoing as of 11 October 2016.[14] On 20 October 2016, the BOU took over the management of Crane Bank and started a sale process. The thirteen bidders included DFCU, Barclays Bank of Uganda, First National Bank of South Africa, Ricardo Santos Silva of Aethel Partners Limited of the United Kingdom, and General Equity, a New Zealand-based fund.[15]

On 20 October 2016, the BOU took over the management of Crane Bank, suspending its board and acting CEO. This seizure was related to the bank's under-capitalization.[16] Edward Katimbo Mugwanya was appointed statutory manager and reported directly to the governor of BOU.[17]

In January 2017, DFCU acquired Crane Bank. DFCU Bank had offered to recapitalise Crane Bank with US$21.6 million after take-over and Aethel Partners Limited offered UGX:1 for the bank's assets and liabilities and also committed to invest US$215 million in Crane Bank to clean the balance sheet. Whereas DFCU Bank offered to clear all of Crane Bank's verified debts, Aethel Partners insisted it would clear only part of the failed lender's debts because of the severe corporate governance and financial risks tied to the bank. These factors boosted DFCU's bid.[18]

Controversy

The "Report on the preliminary forensic review at Crane Bank" (December 2016), which was authored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and commissioned by the Bank of Uganda, recommended the prosecution of Crane Bank's board of directors, investors, and senior management for allegedly flaunting Uganda's banking laws and allegedly committing various financial crimes.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Crane Bank (29 April 2016). "Crane Bank Annual Report 2015". Kampala: Crane Bank Limited. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  2. ^ Vision Reporter (20 August 2015). "Crane Bank at 20". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  3. ^ Bank of Uganda (31 March 2016). "Bank of Uganda: List of Licensed Commercial Banks As At March 2016" (PDF). Kampala: Bank of Uganda. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. ^ "BoU to pay Sudhir, return Crane Bank". The Northern Press. 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  5. ^ Waiswa, Baz (15 October 2015). "Crane Bank: We Have Grown With Our Customers In Last Twenty Years". Kampala: News.ugo.co.ug. Retrieved 27 April 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Businge, Julius (27 September 2012). "BoU revokes National Bank of Commerce license". The Independent (Uganda). Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. ^ ""Banking: How Crane Bank Beat Rivals in 2014", The Investigator, reported by Robert Ndawula, 18 January 2015, accessed 5 August 2015". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ^ "UPDATE 1-Uganda's Crane Bank assets, liabilities transferred to dfcu - central bank". Reuters. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Dfcu takes over Crane bank". www.newvision.co.ug. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Ruparelia Group Holdings". Ruparelia Group. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  11. ^ Olanyo, Joseph (17 September 2013). "Crane Bank to sell shares". The Observer (Uganda). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  12. ^ Oketch, Martin Luther (17 February 2015). "They promised to sell shares, what happened?". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  13. ^ Stephen Otage, and Martin Luther Oketch (20 September 2016). "Sudhir speaks out on Crane Bank sale". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  14. ^ Busuulwa, Bernard (11 October 2016). "Ex-Barclays CEO in talks to acquire Uganda Crane Bank". The EastAfrican. Nairobi. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  15. ^ Muhumuza, Jonathan Adengo and Mark Keith (20 December 2016). "Uganda: Six Banks Bid to Buy Crane Bank". Daily Monitor via AllAfrica.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  16. ^ Busulwa, Bernsard (20 October 2016). "Uganda's central bank takes control of Crane Bank". The EastAfrican. Kampala; Nairobi. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  17. ^ Mark Keith Muhumuza (20 October 2016). "Bank of Uganda takes over Crane Bank". Daily Monitor. Kampala.
  18. ^ Busuulwa, Bernard (6 February 2017). "How DFCU beat other bidders in the race to acquire Uganda's Crane Bank". The East African. Nairobi. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  19. ^ Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi (31 July 2017). "12 more face charges over Crane Bank mess". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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