British bank, Standard Chartered Bank Plc, has said that it will acquire some banks in Nigeria and Ghana as part of measures to expand its sub-Saharan presence.According to Reuters, the banks newly-appointed Africa Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Diana Layfield, said that it aimed to double its Nigerian branch network to 75 outlets by next year.The statement said it was unclear yet which of the banks in Ghana would be acquired by StanChart as the Bank of Ghana recently reiterated it would not back down on ensuring all the banks met the 60 million cedi recapitalisation requirement by the end of 2012.Layfield, however, said that one of the challenges in such acquisition was that some of the banks were over-priced.We absolutely would not rule out acquisitions in Africa. We always look at opportunities available in our footprint. The challenge for us is that the price, timing and opportunity have to be right, Layfield said.Layfield pointed out Nigeria and Ghana in particular would be critical growth engines for the future, adding that they were areas that could not be neglected.StanChart makes about 10 per cent of its profit in Africa and has indicated it would do more project and trade finance deals in Africa in subsequent years.Meanwhile, Standard & Poor, a rating agency, has upgraded Standard Chartered Bank Limited from A+ to AA-, citing the strength of the banks balance sheet, risk management approach and market position across the growing economies of Africa.A statement by the bank on Friday said, The S&P upgrade clearly demonstrates the banks differentiated position versus other international banks. It reinforces the Groups growing balance sheet, minimal wholesale funding requirements, diversified income streams and the strength of its capital and liquidity positions.Standard Chartered Bank is in a very small group of international banks to have been upgraded from S&P under the new methodologywith most institutions being downgraded or remaining the same.It pointed out that the bank was the only major international bank to have been upgraded by all three ratings agencies since the beginning of the financial crisis.It said, S&P rated the bank to AA-; Fitch rated it to AA-; and Moody also rated the bank to A1. The Group Finance Director, Standard Chartered, Mr. Richard Meddings, said, S&P have recognised that we are totally different to other international banks. Were operating in growth markets; weve got diversified income, a very robust balance sheet and strong management. They are the third of the major rating agencies to upgrade us since the crisis began, while we have continued to deliver record results year in, year out.The statement added, S&P stated that a notch upgrade for liquidity would only be awarded to banks in exceptional circumstances. It cites our rich liquid pool of assets and likelihood that we are a flight to quality institution. Also it notes our good market positions, flexibility to play to our advantages in our markets, the strong economic growth across our markets, plus our diverse geographic revenue mix.
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