• Cuts staff strength by 1,182
THE management of Intercontinental Bank Plc has debunked a story published by some newspapers that it has concluded plans with Standard Bank for the acquisition of stakes in the rescued financial institution.

The report had stated that Standard Bank may have concluded plans to acquire 75 per cent stake in Intercontinental Bank- with the remaining 25 per cent expected to be shared between the staff of the bank and Nigerian institutional investors.

But a statement Intercontinental Bank's Group Managing Director, Mr. Mahmoud Lai Alabi, disputed this story. Alabi, while acknowledging that the bank is in the process of discussion with all those who have indicated interest in the bank, including Standard Bank, the Intercontinental Bank boss said: "No detailed discussion or negotiations have even commenced not to talk of allotment of shares."

He affirmed that the board of the bank is kept along in the process and the board has decided to appoint its own advisers to ensure the interest of all shareholders and all stakeholders are protected."

Meanwhile, Intercontinental Bank has announced the down-sizing of the support staff cadre by 1,182, as part of the repositioning exercise in the bank.

The disengagement exercise, which took place yesterday, marks the conclusion of the right-sizing exercise embarked upon by the bank last December.

The bank said the exercise was finally carried out after due consultations with the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) and the local chapter of NUBIFIE, where the terms of disengagement were agreed upon.

The exercise, which was done based on clearly defined criteria agreed upon by the union and the bank, will see the affected workers leaving with an enhanced severance package approved by the board of directors of the bank and in line with the collective agreement with NUBIFIE.
Equally, each of the affected workers will have access to three months free medicare under the existing health insurance scheme.

It would be recalled that the bank, last year, launched a three-phased "project transformation" strategy, aimed at stabilising, rebuilding and consolidating the bank for greater efficiency and profitability.