JPMorgan Chase is seeking a Nigerian merchant banking license after reportedly placing ₦50 billion with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), an amount equal to the minimum capital threshold for the category. Bloomberg reported Oct. 20 that the sum was about $38 million, based on sources with knowledge of the application. Bloomberg said JPMorgan provided no comment and the CBN’s spokesperson had not answered its inquiry.
The CBN’s March 2024 rules set minimum paid-up share capital of ₦50 billion for a merchant bank authorized to operate nationally. The requirements apply to new banking license applications, putting the reported payment at the threshold relevant to JPMorgan’s request. The amount does not itself grant a license: Bloomberg reported that the CBN still has to decide and that approval is not assured.
The CBN said it raised bank capital requirements in response to economic shocks at home and abroad, aiming to strengthen banks and their ability to support growth. The revised requirements form part of a broader recapitalization framework for the banking sector.
A license would add to services JPMorgan already provides in Nigeria. The bank says its Lagos office serves clients through its Asset & Wealth Management and Commercial & Investment Bank businesses. Bloomberg reported that the application fits a wider effort to expand the company’s African activity in payments, lending, trade finance and corporate banking.
JPMorgan’s history records a Chase Manhattan Bank branch opening in Lagos in 1961 and a representative office opening in 1982. Those were different forms of presence and predate the current application for a merchant banking license.
Bloomberg’s sources placed a possible approval in late 2026 or early 2027, while cautioning that it was not guaranteed. The report did not identify a decision date set by the CBN. The regulator’s licensing decision remains the next step.
