On Monday, First Citizens BancShares Inc announced that it had acquired the deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) following its failure earlier this month.

This acquisition marks a significant step forward in addressing the global financial markets’ ongoing crisis of confidence.

As part of the deal, First Citizens BancShares will assume SVB’s assets including $110 billion in assets, $56 billion in deposits, and $72 billion in loans. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which took control of SVB, will receive equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares stock with a potential value of up to $500 million.

First Citizens BancShares described itself as having completed more FDIC-assisted transactions since 2009 than any other bank. It believes that the combined company will be resilient with a diverse loan portfolio and deposit base.

The bank’s statement also noted that its prudent risk management approach would continue to protect customers and stockholders through all economic cycles and market conditions.

In addition to the acquisition, First Citizens BancShares will receive a line of credit from the FDIC for contingent liquidity purposes. Again, the bank will have an agreement with the regulator to share some losses on commercial loans to provide further downside protection against potential credit losses.

While analysts said the move was positive for financial stability and the venture capital industry, they noted that it only addressed the issue of deposits leaving smaller banks for larger banks or money market funds up to a point.

Redmond Wong, Greater China market strategist at Saxo Markets, said that “First Citizens Bank’s acquisition of the SVB loan book and deposits does not add much to solve the number one issue that the U.S. banking system is now facing.”

SVB’s failure was the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. Its closure on March 10th caused massive market disruption and heightened stresses across the banking sector globally. The acquisition of its deposits and loans by First Citizens BancShares is a step towards stabilizing the sector and restoring confidence in the global financial markets.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings reported its highest gross earnings in a decade, aided by a 131% growth in trading revenue in 2022, according to data released by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).

Gross earnings grew by 39.15% to N287.54 billion in 2022 compared to N206.64 billion in 2021, while trading revenue for the period surged to N34.69 billion in 2022 from N13.29 billion in 2021.

The growth in interest income was driven by an increase in the volume of risk assets and growth in average yield due to a higher interest rate environment, analysts at CSL Stockbrokers Limited said in a note.

The bank declared earnings per share of N603 per share in 2022 from N420 per share in 2021, and proposed a final dividend of N2.00 per ordinary share.

Further checks by Investors King showed that the bank’s interest expense rose by 34.62 percent to N39.55 billion in 2022 compared to N29.38 billion in 2021. This was driven by a significant increase of 124 percent in interest generated from savings accounts and a 62.36 percent increase in interest from borrowed funds.

The bank’s fees and commission revenue also grew by 8.77 percent to N96.07 billion in 2022, up from N88.32 billion in 2021. However, its fees and commission expenses decreased by 8.05 percent from N5.44 billion in 2021 to N5.01 billion in 2022.

Despite the profit growth, the bank’s activities are not generating cash as net cash flow from operating activities amounted to N-84.23 billion in 2022.

The bank’s return on equity for the full year period of 2022 increased by 470 basis points to 19.82 percent compared to 15.12 percent in 2021.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken steps to ease the prolonged cash crunch that has made life difficult for millions of Nigerians and residents by releasing billions of naira to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) over the past weekend.

The CBN has directed banks to open their branches over the weekend and dispense cash via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and over-the-counter to customers.

Many banks have complied with the CBN’s directive, as evidenced by the opening of several bank branches and the availability of cash to customers.

While some banks have sent emails to their customers, notifying them of the weekend operations, most branches of banks in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, and other states have attended to customers both in the banking hall and via ATM.

Many customers have been able to withdraw up to N20,000 over-the-counter, while holders of other banks’ ATMs have been able to withdraw N5,000 only. Some bank branches have also loaded their ATMs with both old and new naira notes.

The move has been greeted with mixed reactions, with some Nigerians welcoming the development, while others have expressed concerns about the quality of the old naira notes dispensed. However, for most Nigerians, the kind of naira notes dispensed doesn’t matter as long as they can spend the cash.

Checks by Investors King show that ATMs of Zenith Bank, PremiumTrust Bank, GTB, Unity Bank and Access Bank branches at Redemption Camp along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were flooded with cash.

However, because of the compliance level, we observed that there were no long queues, even after the Sunday service attributed to rush as bank customers were allowed to walk in to perform their normal transactions. Also, both old and new naira notes were dispensed.