Skye Bank Plc

Skye Bank Plc was a commercial bank in Nigeria with about 400 branches, nearly 900 ATMs and 6,732 POS terminals nationwide. It employed 4,400 people and offered current and savings accounts, personal and business loans, credit and debit cards, prepaid cards, mortgages, money transfers, internet banking as well as corporate accounts, project and structured finance, investment banking, international funding, international trade services, aviation and maritime financing and other services. It had three banking subsidiaries, namely Skye Bank Sierra Leone, Skye Bank Gambia and Skye Bank Guinea as well as 10 non-banking subsidiaries. In 2014, Skye Bank acquired Mainstreet Bank Limited. The company had total assets of NGN 1.199 trillion (US$6.1 billion), loans and advances of NGN 704.896 billion and customer deposits of NGN 753.145 billion (FY 2015). The bank ceased to operate on September 21, 2018, when its licence was revoked, and its business passed to Polaris Bank Limited.

Market capitalization: NGN 6.9 billion as of October 20, 2017.

Former head office address:
3 Akin Adesola Street
Victoria Island, Lagos
Nigeria
Phone: 234-1-2701-600
Website: www.skyebankng.com (the domain no longer resolves)

Skye Bank Sierra Leone
31, Siaka Stevens Street
Freetown, Sierra Leone
www.skyebanksl.com (the domain resolves but serves an unconfigured hosting placeholder)

Skye Bank Gambia
70, Kaiaba Avenue, Pipeline,
Kanifing Municipality, Banjul
www.skyebankgm.com (the domain no longer resolves)

Skye Bank Guinea
5, Eme Avenue
Immeuble Immovie/Ugar, Sanvervalia
Commune de KaloumKaloum
Conakry, Republic de Guinea
www.skyebankgn.com (now redirects to skybankgn.com)

The Central Bank of Nigeria dissolved Skye Bank's board and revoked its operating licence on September 21, 2018, and licensed a bridge bank, Polaris Bank Limited, to assume the deposits and other liabilities of Skye Bank and to acquire its assets. Polaris Bank commenced business the same day, took over the former Skye Bank branch network and received an injection of NGN 786 billion from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria. The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation lists Skye Bank among Nigeria's closed financial institutions with a date of closure of September 21, 2018, and records that liquidation activity in respect of the bank has been terminated. Skye Bank does not appear on the Central Bank of Nigeria's current list of licensed commercial banks, which names Polaris Bank instead.

Ownership of Polaris Bank passed from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to Strategic Capital Investment Limited and Ponglomerape Limited on October 19, 2022, with Strategic Capital Investment Limited holding 99 per cent of the shares. In its 2022 annual report Polaris Bank recorded 249 business offices and total assets of NGN 1.417 trillion. The successor styles itself Polaris Bank Limited, while the Central Bank of Nigeria's list of licensed commercial banks names it Polaris Bank Plc.

The Guinean subsidiary was not wound up with its Nigerian parent. It continues to trade in Conakry as Sky Bank Guinea, still referring to itself as Skye Bank Guinee SA, as a subsidiary of Sky Capital & Financial Allied International Limited, part of the SIFAX group.