Zenith Bank Exits Regulatory Forbearance, Meets ₦500bn Capital Target

Zenith Bank Plc has announced that it will fully exit all regulatory forbearance arrangements granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by June 30, 2025.

In a statement filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday, the tier-one lender confirmed that it has exceeded the CBN’s new minimum capital requirement of ₦500 billion and is on track to regularize all exposures covered by regulatory waivers.

“The Bank’s exposure under the Single Obligor Limit (SOL) forbearance relates solely to a single obligor. We are confident that this exposure will be brought within the applicable regulatory limit on or before 30 June 2025,” the bank disclosed in a statement signed by its Company Secretary, Michael Otu.

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Zenith Bank is among several financial institutions impacted by the apex bank’s policy restricting dividend payouts, bonuses, and foreign subsidiary investments in cases involving regulatory forbearance, particularly for breaches of the SOL and other credit exposures.

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The statement further revealed that the bank’s forbearance on other credit facilities involves only two customers. “We have made substantial provisions in respect of these facilities and have taken appropriate and comprehensive steps to ensure full provisioning by 30 June 2025,” the bank noted.

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Zenith affirmed that once the provisioning is completed, it would no longer be under any CBN forbearance measures. “The Bank expects to have exited all CBN forbearance arrangements by the end of the first half of 2025,” it concluded.

This development reinforces Zenith Bank’s strong capital position and its strategy to remain compliant with evolving regulatory requirements while preserving shareholder value.