History
The history of Kenya Commercial Bank Limited dates back to July 1896, when its predecessor, the National Bank of India (NBI), opened a branch in Mombasa to handle the business that the port was attracting at that time.
In 1958, Grindlays Bank merged with the NBI to form the National and Grindlays Bank (NGB). Upon independence, the government of Kenya acquired 60 percent shareholding in NGB in an effort to bring banking closer to the majority of Kenyans. In 1970, the government acquired 100 percent of the shareholding in NGB to take full control of the largest commercial bank in Kenya. NGB was then renamed Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). In 1972, KCB acquired Savings & Loan Kenya Limited, which specialized in mortgage finance.
In 1988, the first 20 percent of the government's shares in the company were sold through an Initial public offering on the Nairobi Securities exchange. The government has over the years reduced its shareholding to 23.6 percent. In the rights issue of 2010, the government further reduced its shareholding to 17.31 percent.
KCB Tanzania Limited was incorporated in Dar es Salaam in 1997. Since then, KCB has opened 11 more branches in Tanzania. In May 2006, KCB extended its operations to South Sudan following licensing of KCB Sudan. This subsidiary now has over 20 branches in that country. In November 2007, KCB Bank Uganda Limited was opened. KCB currently has 14 branches in Uganda. In December 2008, KCB Rwanda began operations with one branch at Kigali. There are currently 11 branches spread out in the country. In 2012, KCB registered a subsidiary in Burundi, KCB Burundi, becoming the first bank in the region to be presented in all the African Great Lakes countries.
Before 2015, KCB was both a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries. In compliance with the Kenya Finance Act No. 57 of 2012, KCB Group announced in April 2015 its intention to incorporate a new, wholly owned subsidiary, KCB Bank Kenya Limited, to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets, and liabilities. The re-organisation converted KCB Group into a non-trading holding company that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies.[4]
