Category Archives: Charterhouse

Closure of Charterhouse Bank

It was the 26th largest bank in Kenya at the end of 2005 with assets of 4.2 billion and made a profit of 122 million shillings. It was the financial arm of the Kingsway Group which includes Creative Innovations, Kingsway Tyres, Digital World and the landmark Village Market in Gigiri.

While it is rare for a financially sound bank to be shut down, the Finance Minister made a good point that he wanted to prevent a run on the Bank. Rumours & stories about a takeover/restructuring/ownership change at a bank can truly cause panic in the banking sector since Kenyans have over the years lost billions of shilling in collapsed banks. At a recent bank meeting, the Chairman was very candid that some depositors had withdrawn huge amounts from his bank following some inaccurate reports appearing in the media.

Likely Outcome
Despite this, the legal grounds for the closure are not very strong although the Bank has weathered several money laundering storms over the years.

Charterhouse which was formerly Middle East Bank Kenya and at one time 10% owned by Nakumatt who also hosted several branches should re-open in a few months with the help of some smart lawyers and an aggressive market campaign.

Another Saturday Post

Dedicated to AfroM who says I don’t work on weekends

Banking

The Nation gives a peek at a damning report on the over-staffed and under-performing employees at the Central Bank of Kenya.

Charterhouse Bank management denied that they were involved in money laundering and claimed that accusations were meant to distract from the problems at the Central Bank.

Auditors of the collapsed Trust Bank will be sued for fraud by the former depositors.

An IFC report on the Ugandan banking sector.

Ex-Im Trade
The Ministry of Trade & Industry has published a handbook on importing and exporting in Kenya.

Kenya Airways
– The airline is offering Mombasa residents cheap tickets to fill seats, likely to be empty over the Easter weekend. There are so many coast holiday packages between the airline and Mombasa hotels resulting in full flights, and probably requiring extra & larger aircraft, to Mombasa before Easter and from Mombasa after Easter. So the airline is selling seats for 2,500 shillings (about ½ price) to Nairobi before Easter and to Mombasa after Easter
– The airline also offers automatic 10% discounts for tickets booked through its website (bypassing travel agents & their commissions)
– KQ will codeshare with Korean Air on the Seoul – Bangkok – Nairobi route effective April 20. (From African Flyer)

E-govt
Parliament will unveil a new website next Thursday, minus 7 MP biographies.

Sports
ABM AMRO economists make predictions about the World Cup showing Brazil are likely to win, but an Italian win would be best for the world economy.

Mining
Tiomin will buy a 20% Net Profit Interest Royalty (“NPI Royalty”) that Pangea Goldfields holds on the mineral sands exploration licenses of Kwale, Kilifi, Vipingo, and Mambrui in Kenya.

Communications
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) will simplify the licensing process by combining three different licenses: VSAT, internet backbone & gateway, and public data network operator (PDNO) & international data gateway into one data carrier network operator (DCNO).

To Quote

“the individual and collective sacrifices made by the family members, the strength on which these successes were built, will be easily diluted if the business is floated to the public on the stock exchange,” — comments Manoj Shah, MD Kingsway Group [(Village market, Charterhouse Bank, Kingsway Tyres, Digital World (Samsung)] on why many family run businesses do now want to go public by selling shares through the Nairobi Stock Exchange.