First Bank subsidiary acquires Access Bank’s pension business

FBN Holdings (FBNH) has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Access Bank Plc for the planned acquisition by First Pension Custodian Limited (a subsidiary of FBNH’s First Bank of Nigeria), of 100% Share Capital of Access Pension Fund Custodian held by Access Bank Plc.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) have given their “no objection” to the Transaction, with completion subject to the receipt of all required regulatory approvals, according to FBNH in a statement.

“FBNH will update the market as appropriate and in accordance with its disclosure obligations,” FBNH said.

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Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) are responsible for keeping safe custody of pension assets on trust on behalf of contributors.

The main functions of PFCs are to receive pension contributions on behalf of PFAs; settle transactions and undertake activities relating to the administration of pension fund investments on behalf of PFAs and to notify the PFA within 24 hours of the receipt of pension contributions from employers.

Apart from the 2 Pension Custodians, UBA Pensions Custodian Limited and Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited are the other 2 operators.

First Pension Custodian Limited is a much bigger operator than Access Pension Fund Custodians, data seen by MoneyCentral shows.

First Pension Custodian Limited had total assets of N17.87 billion, and reported profit of N3.73 billion as at December 2020

Access Pension Fund Custodians Ltd for its part had total assets of N4.678 billion and reported profit of N125.8 million as at December 2020.