On Thursday, a 2-year-old Titan Trust Bank (TTB) acquired an 89.39 percent stake in the 104-year old Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
Players have described the acquisition as a laudable achievement for the newly-established bank. Titan Trust operates as a commercial bank with national authorisation.
“The bank was established on the 12th of December, 2018 and started operating fully as a commercial national bank after obtaining its National Banking license on the 26th of April, 2019,” a statement profiling the bank on its website reads.
In 2019, the bank recorded a profit of N644 million, and in 2020, its after-tax profit rose to N2.9 billion.
The bank prides its license as being the “first national banking license that the Central Bank of Nigeria has granted in the last ten years”.
“The Bank was formed to take advantage of the identified gaps in the banking sector and address the unmet needs of the retail mass market, SMEs and corporate institutions,” the profile reads further.
So, who are the titans behind the new bank?
TUNDE LEMO, CHAIRMAN
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Tunde Lemo, chairman of Titan Trust Bank, is a Nigerian banker and former deputy governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He also chairs Flutterwave, an African-based fintech company.
Lemo attended the University of Nigeria Nsukka, bagging first-class honours, in 1984.
He began his career at Arthur Anderson & co., an American holding company based in Chicago, in 1985. The company ceased operations in August 2002.
In 2000, Lemo served as managing director of Wema Bank Plc.
He moved on to become the deputy governor of operations and director of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2003.
On January 2, 2004, Lemo became the director and chairman of the Abuja Securities & Commodity Exchange Plc.
He became a non-executive director of Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development financial institution, in May 2007.
Having been appointed as chairman of the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 6 2017, he effectively became chairman of the agency in July 2018.
He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Bankers.
MUDASSIR AMRAY, CEO
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Mudassir Amray, the chief executive officer and board member, Titan Trust, is a banker with vast experience — spanning over 25 years — in senior management roles.
He has worked in seven countries across continents, including the USA, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Pakistan.
At Citibank Nigeria Limited, Amray was a managing director and head of corporate from July 2013 to July 2018.
He became a managing director of Citibank New York — a position he held from August 2018 till January 2019 — before he moved to Titan Trust Bank in January 2019.
Since the inception of his career, Mudassir has held various senior positions at Citibank and other foreign as well as local banks.
He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines and obtained a master’s degree at the University of Karachi, Pakistan.
ADAEZE UDENSI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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Adaeze Udensi, the executive director of Titan Trust Bank, joined the company in April 2019.
Before then, she was a former executive director with Heritage Bank. She joined Heritage in March 2015 and served as an executive director and executive compliance officer.
Udensi has well over ten years of experience in the banking industry.
She has an extensive educational background in business administration, chartered banking and credit management.
Udensi obtained a Doctorate (PhD) in credit management at the International University Panama.
