Zenith Bank to establish subsidiary in France

Zenith Bank Plc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French government to establish a subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc in France.

The MoU, which was signed by the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, CFR, and the French Minister for Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Mr. Olivier Becht on Friday, will enable Zenith Bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Zenith Bank (UK) Limited, to seek and secure the requisite regulatory approval from the Autorite’ de Controle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) to establish a strategic presence in France.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Jim Ovia, said, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Nigeria and Zenith Bank. I am indeed very delighted about the signing of this MoU with France. For me, it is an honour to do this on behalf of the bank, and we look forward to securing the licence and starting operations in early 2024”.

He thanked the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann and her colleagues at the French Embassy in Nigeria for their efforts towards improving French-Nigerian business relations.

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Also speaking during the ceremony, Becht, lauded the decision of the Bank to open a branch in Paris.

“We are thrilled to welcome in France Zenith Bank’s first office inside the European Union. For us, that’s a very good signal, and it is undoubtedly a demonstration of mutual confidence.”

He noted that the government of President Macron had adopted a pro-business agenda in order to make France more attractive by undertaking several reforms in labour law, simplifying a lot of procedures and cutting business taxes, corporate taxes and production taxes by more than 25 billion Euros.

“We hope that the opening of the branch of Zenith Bank in France will also be an occasion to boost the French-Nigerian business in order to have more French companies investing in Nigeria and also to have more Nigerian companies investing in France,” he added.

Meanwhile in a splendid display, Zenith Bank heralded the Christmas and Yuletide seasons with the Light-Up of Ajose Adeogun Street and Roundabout, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Saturday.

The Light-Up ceremony was performed by the Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu.

Speaking during the ceremony, Dr. Onyeagwu expressed his delight in heralding the 2023 Yuletide season by lighting up the iconic Ajose Adeogun Street and Roundabout. He urged everyone to imbibe the message and spirit of Christmas, which is about peace, love, forgiveness and respect for humanity and prayed for peace in every home, business and country.