JPMorgan –With $4trn Assets– Granted CBN Licence For Nigerian Banking, With Olagunju As MD
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted Approval-in-Principle (AIP) to JPMorgan to establish JPMorgan Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited.
JPMorgan Chase is the world’s fifth-largest bank by total assets, with $4 trillion in assets as of 2026.
The CBN also approved the board, including Adedapo Adedayo Olagunju as Managing Director.
The move follows JPMorgan’s earlier N50 billion deposit.
The licence is a preliminary step in the US bank’s plan to expand in Nigeria by converting its longstanding Lagos representative office into a full merchant bank. The proposed bank cannot start operations until it meets remaining regulatory requirements and receives a final licence.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylised as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational banking institution headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware.
It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world’s largest bank by market capitalisation as of 2026.
As the largest of the Big Four banks in America, the firm is considered systemically important by the Financial Stability Board.
Its size and scale have often led to enhanced regulatory oversight as well as the development of an internal “Fortress Balance Sheet”.
