Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC also known as GTCO PLC is a multinational financial services group, that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management and payments services, headquartered in

Victoria Island Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria. GTCO Plc was created in July 2021 following the corporate reorganization of Guaranty Trust Bank PLC (or

GTBank Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC also known as GTCO PLC is a multinational financial services group, that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management and payments services, headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos ...

) into a Holding Company GTCO Plc's reorganisation means it will now offer more services beyond banking; with a payments business being top of mind for the group. Under its old structure, it could not have run non-lending businesses because a 2010 regulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandated banks to stop operating their non-banking subsidiaries. They either had to divest from non-core lending service or restructure as a holdings company. Its new businesses include payments, pension management, asset management, and its existing banking business. GTCO's banking subsidiary in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited is Nigeria’s most valuable bank by market value with its most recent market valuation at N840.26 billion. Guaranty Trust Holding Plc original started as Guaranty Trust Banks and it was founded in 1988 by over 35 young Nigerians in their thirties, spearheaded mostly by

Tayo Aderinokun Olutayo Aderinokun (May 8, 1955 – June 14, 2011) was a Nigerian entrepreneur who until his death was the CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank. He was also a recipient of the Member of the Federal Republic, one of Nigeria's prestigious national awards. ...

and

Fola Adeola Tajudeen Afolabi Adeola is a Nigerian businessman and investor. He is the Founder of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank Plc.)., a member of the Commission for Africa, as well as founder and chairman of the FATE Foundation. Education Adeola completed h ...

, but also included

Femi Pedro Olufemi "Femi" Olusegun Pedro (born 29 January 1955) is a Nigerian politician who served as deputy governor of Lagos State from 2003 to 2007. Before his election alongside Bola Tinubu, he was a co-owner and the chief executive officer of Firs ...

, Gbolade Osibodu, Femi Akingbe, Akin Opeodu and others.

History

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc was established in 1990 as a limited liability company (LLC) regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria to provide commercial and other banking services to Nigerians. The bank began operations as a commercial bank in 1991. The Bank inaugurated its first Head Office on February 11, 1991, at The Plaza, Adeyemo Alakija, Victoria Island, Lagos. In 1992, the Bank opened two branches in Lagos (Ikeja and Broad Street), as well as its first upcountry branch in Kano, and a Port-Harcourt branch in 1993. In September 1996, Guaranty Trust Bank plc became a publicly traded corporation and received the President's Merit Award from the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Bank received a universal banking license in February 2002 and was later designated as a settlement bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2003. In the same year, it incorporated subsidiaries in Gambia and Sierra Leone. Guaranty Trust Bank undertook its second share offering in 2004 and raised over ₦11 billion from Nigerian Investors to expand its operations. On 26 July 2007, GTBank became the very first

Subsaharan Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

bank and first Nigerian

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

to be listed on

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and

Deutsche Börse Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to glo ...

. The IPO raised US$750,000,000. In the same year, they successfully placed Nigeria's first private Eurobond issue on the international capital markets. The GTBank US$500,000,000 Eurobond was the first-ever Benchmark Eurobond issue by a Nigerian corporate and the second Eurobond programme by GTBank in the last 5 years. The long-term debts of Guaranty Trust Bank plc are rated BB- by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

and AA- by

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the " Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) ...

, which are the highest ratings for a Nigerian bank. They introduced

online banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, web banking or home banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial inst ...

and

SMS banking Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

in Nigeria and a

naira The naira (sign: ₦; code: NGN) is the currency of Nigeria. One naira is divided into 100 ''kobo''. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the sole issuer of legal tender money throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It controls the volume ...

denominated MasterCard as well as the ''Platinum'' and ''World Signia'' cards and with ''GTB-on-wheels'', mobile branches. On 12 March 2008, GTBank was given a banking licence for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

by the

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...

. Guaranty Trust Bank Limited is a partner of

Eko Atlantic City Eko Atlantic, officially Nigeria International Commerce city, also known as Eko Atlantic City, or the initials E.A.C. and E.A., is a planned city of Lagos State, Nigeria, being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. Upon completion ...

, a newly made island (820 ha.) in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

ocean, adjacent to Victoria Island Lagos. It will be the home of the new Financial District. The building of Eko Atlantic City started in 2009 and is expected to be finished in 2016. To commemorate the bank's 20th anniversary, the

Nigerian Postal Service The Nigerian Postal Service, abbreviated as NIPOST is a government-owned and operated corporation, is the Nigerian postal administration responsible for providing postal services in Nigeria. It has more than 12,000 employees and runs more than 3 ...

issued a set of GTBank Anniversary postage stamps. This was the first time in Nigeria that a corporate organization was honored in such a way. Gtbank maryland

In 2011, the bank became the biggest bank in Nigeria by market capitalisation. In 2013, the bank acquired 70 percent shareholding in the

Fina Bank Group Fina Bank Group, was a financial services organization in East Africa located in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. It was acquired by Guaranty Trust Bank in 2013 and renamed soon after. Before its takeover, Fina Bank ...

for a cash payment of US$100 million. Fina Bank branches and subsidiaries were rebranded GT Bank soon afterwards. In 2013, the Bank issued a US$400,000,000 Euro bond at a coupon rate of 6%; the least obtained by a Nigerian company in the international capital market. The Eurobond was issued under the US$2,000,000 Global Medium Term Note Programme, which is registered under both Regulation in the United States of America and Rule 144A in the United Kingdom and sold to investors across Africa, America, Asia and Europe. The Bank has over 10,000 employees. In May 2021, GT Bank announced a change in its corporate structure, moving to a holding company and spinning off its banking and other businesses into subsidiaries. The proposed change was ratified by its shareholders on December 4, 2020 after a court mandated shareholders meeting.

Controversy

Innoson and GTB have been embroiled in court battles for a long time over a financial contract. On 29 March 2019, the Supreme Court ordered GT Bank to pay Innoson motors the sum of ₦8.8 billion as a result of an accrued interest. In an exclusive report,

Peoples Gazette ''Peoples Gazette'' is a Nigerian online newspaper based in Abuja. It launched in 2020. The online medium is notable for its investigative journalism, among other fields. Launching ''Peoples Gazette'' was launched in 2020 by Samuel Ogundipe, a ...

, through bank records, disclosed how GTCO, through its subsidiary Investment One, donated the sum of ₦200 million to the campaign account of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in violation of the federal campaign finance law. The payment was made in three tranches of ₦100 million, ₦50 million, and ₦50 million. The electoral act permits a maximum donation of ₦1 million per candidate in a presidential race.

Leadership

*Hezekiah Oyinlola is chairman;

Segun Agbaje Segun Agbaje (born 1964) is the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), a Nigerian financial institution. He is also a Director of PepsiCo and member of the Mastercard Advisory Board, Middle East and Africa. Education Segun Agbaje at ...

is Group Chief Executive Officer. The other board of directors include; Catherine Echeozo, Suleiman Barau, Helen Lee Bouygues, and Adebanji Adeniyi. In 2021, Miriam Olusanya was appointed the first female Managing Director of GTBank Nigeria, the flagship company of GTCO Plc.

Branches and subsidiaries

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc has 11 banking subsidiaries with plans to launch payments, asset management, and pension management subsidiaries. GTCO PLC has subsidiaries in the following countries: # GTBank Nigeria -

# GTBank Kenya -

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

# GTBank Rwanda -

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

# GTBank Uganda -

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

# GTBank Côte d'Ivoire -

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

# GTBank Gambia -

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

# GTBank Ghana -

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

# GTBank Liberia -

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

# GTBank Sierra Leone -

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

# GTBank UK -

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

# GTBank Tanzania -

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Corporate social responsibility

Guaranty Trust Bank has a long history of corporate social responsibility projects, often gaining recognition for its CSR efforts. Its Annual Autism Conference, which it has held for eleven years, works to reduce the stigma associated with autism. The event also provides free speech and behavioral consultations with medical experts for people living with autism. In education and sports, Guaranty Trust Bank also hosts the Master's Cup, one of the most popular grassroots football tournaments in the country. In 2021, the Bank celebrated Children's day with a meeting between young children and Mabel Segun, the iconic Nigerian poet and playwright. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc 01

The bank has other CSR efforts in improving access to healthcare, and it hosts the GTBank Food and Drink Festival and the GTBank Fashion Week, two of the most popular pop culture events in Nigeria.

Awards and recognition

In July 2019, GTBank was recognized as the best bank in Africa at the annual Euromoney Awards for Excellence held in

. In the same year, it was adjudged the best bank in Nigeria for the ninth time. In 2020, Guaranty Trust Bank was awarded the Euromoney Excellence in Leadership Africa Award and was also named the Best Bank in Nigeria by Euromoney in 2020 and Africa's best Bank by the same publication in 2021. Guaranty Trust Bank was also named the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria by the research and credit rating agency, Agusto & Co. The bank was also the most admired finance brand in Nigeria and Africa in 2020. In 2021, Guaranty Trust Bank was named the Best Banking Group, the Best Retail Bank in

and the Most Innovative Bank in Nigeria by the World Finance Banking Awards. The World Business Outlook awarded Guaranty Trust Bank the Best Digital Bank as well as an award for the Best Mobile Banking app. In 2022, GTBank also won the most admired brand in Africa Award.

References

External links

*
BSL-Finance Guaranty Trust Bank Profile BSL-Finance Guaranty Trust Bank Summary
{{Authority control Companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Multinational companies based in Lagos Banks of Nigeria Banks established in 1990 Victoria Island, Lagos Holding companies of Nigeria